At the turn of the 20th century, the Industrial Revolution was well under way. Larger and more serviceable silos were being built and new forms and materials for silo construction were being researched and developed. A survey taken in 1885 listed 2,000 silos in the United States. The survey conducted in 1916 listed a total of 330,160 silos in 48 states.
In 1907, the wood stave silo companies formed the National Silo Manufacturers and Jobbers Association. They organized and held their first meeting in Chicago. There were twenty-eight companies represented at that first meeting, including several silo filler manufacturers.
The International Silo Association was known by nine different names over the years – as follows:
- 1907 National Silo Manufacturers & Jobbers Association
- 1912 National Silo Association
- 1913 Wood Stave Silo Manufacturing Association (ended 1919- joined “Stave”)
- 1917 National Cement Stave Silo Association
- 1922 National Silo Research Institute
- 1929 National Silo Research Council
- 1933 National Association of Silo Manufacturers
- 1956 National Silo Association
- 1979 International Silo Association