Fifth-generation farmer invents new system to safely, efficiently clean grain bins

This story first appeared in STEM in Iowa 2025, an annual special section distributed in The Gazette that provides an in-depth look at how this educational pathway is having an impact in the classroom as well as in future workforce pipelines.

Working in Iowa grain bins with no cell signal turned out to be the perfect opportunity for Caleb Renner — to think.

“Since there’s no cell reception in a grain bin, you literally have to sit there and wait. From my hours of sitting and waiting, I thought that there had to be a better way of cleaning out a grain bin, and that’s where the idea had its inception,” he said.

This sparked what the fifth-generation farmer calls AgriNet, a polypropylene mesh net that lines the inside of a grain bin.

“It is lifted upwards during the load out process and changes the angle of repose of grain stored in the silo. This causes grain to trickle into the center sump. The AgriNet cleans out a grain bin with the press of a button,” he said.

Launched under his company name Renner Ag Solutions, this technology does not require a farmer to enter a grain bin, which Renner calls “industry changing” in that it will save lives and limbs.

“The traditional bin sweep requires a farmer to enter a grain bin for the load out process. This exposes him to dangerous conditions like dust and free spinning augers,” Renner said.

The idea first came about by watching seed corn stored in burlap sacks being dumped into planters through a hole at the bottom.

“I had the beginnings of an idea with a metal net. It wasn’t until we loaded our planter with a burlap sack that I realized that the net could be made out of a fabric of plastic. From that point, the idea really came into shape,” Renner said.

Here’s how AgriNet works.

“As soon as the producer presses a button on the outside of his grain bin, it activates a 2,000-pound force winch that pulls up the mesh net inside the grain bin, lifting it upwards,” he said. “This creates an angle for grain to trickle down into the center sump. The farmer will press the button and raise the net incrementally until the bin is completely cleaned out.”

In the future, Renner, 22, hopes to automate the system so the net will raise in tandem with the load on the winches. This would mean you would only need to press the button once to clean out the grain bin.

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“For one, the human element is removed, which makes the process less prone to accidents and injury,” he said. “On top of this, the AgriNet is more ergonomic and involves fewer moving parts inside the grain bin as opposed to a typical bin sweep. This means less breakdowns.”

AgriNet is set to be installed in six grain bins this summer, but Renner admits getting his product off the ground has not been easy.

“Certainly the monetary aspect has been a limiter… making sure my intellectual property is protected was a huge hurdle and cost a ton of money,” he said. “Along with that, trying to explain to engineers how this product works has been a struggle and has actually cost a lot of money to eliminate ideas that just don’t work.”

Renner projects AgriNet will save time and labor by eliminating the need for up to three people to clean a grain bin, in addition to the safety benefits.

“Our local Pioneer seed salesman nearly lost his leg from a bin sweep incident three years ago. This was a horrific incident that shook the community. Since starting this venture, I’ve heard countless stories from farmers who’ve been affected by bin sweep injuries. There needs to be an alternative, and I believe I found it,” he said.

In his experience, Renner says agriculture evolves through necessary innovation.

“All farmers are engineers in their own right. They have to be intuitive and be able to fix things on the fly. With farming comes a philosophy that you can do things better and faster,” he said. “That line of thinking certainly played a role in helping come up with the AgriNet. Farming is not an unintelligible industry, contrary to some stereotypes. Farmers need to be engineers, agronomists, mechanics and businessmen all at the same time.”

His projections for AgriNet are quite bold.

“The AgriNet will change the industry as we know it in the next five years. Farmers will no longer dread cleaning out grain bins, germination will improve for seed beans or seed corn since it doesn’t need to travel through a bin sweep, and hours will be saved from not having to engage in the most dangerous part of grain storage,” Renner said.

This isn’t his only invention in the works.

“I’m trying to tackle one innovation at a time. But that doesn’t mean I do not have more ideas in the back of my head,” he admits. “Renner Ag Solutions as a corporation was founded as a company aimed at solving multiple problems on the farm, not just grain storage. I’ve thought of many different products or innovations that make planting more efficient and the farmer’s life easier.”

“I am a firm believer that in a decade, we will harvest our crops from our desk,” Renner said.