Iowa Hoop Structures Used for Confined Beef Cattle Feeding: A Survey

Beginning in the mid-1990s, hoop structures became available to Iowa farmers as an alternative housing system for livestock, primarily swine. Iowa State University was very active in research and demonstrations of hoop barns for swine. ISU also built hoop barns for calving at the ISU Rhodes Research Farm, Rhodes, IA in about 2000. From this work, in 2004/05 ISU built one of the first hoop barns for cattle feeding at the ISU Armstrong Research Farm, Lewis, IA. Frequently, questions are asked about the acceptance of hoop barns for beef cattle and how many beef cattle hoop barns are in Iowa.