"Paint a mural on it" has been the default answer to the question of what to do with disused silos, but some couples across rural Australia are coming up with other clever ways to save the iconic structures from the scrap yard.
Landholders and business owners are converting metal and concrete grain storages into hotel rooms, incorporating them into workplaces, and even using them for abseiling.
For some, it's a way to save the structures from landfill and preserve history, and for others, it's a means of diversifying their income.
For Ken Edwards and Ruth Ashburner-Gorse, it's both.
When the couple bought hilltop property Figtree in the south-east Queensland town of Irongate in 2017 they opened up their land to campers, built a silo bar, and a single-storey silo for guests.
Now, after 18 months, they're putting the final touches on their most ambitious project yet — a two-storey glamping silo complete with fireplace and queen bed.
"Everybody loved it, so we thought we'd just step it up and make something a little bit better with more facilities in it and creature comforts for people from the city, but still be able to come to the country and enjoy it," Mr Edwards said.
The pair wanted to ensure the structure was built using locally sourced, recycled materials, and with his engineering background and her passion for design they knew it was achievable.
"The worst thing that we can think of is going to the tip and getting rid of things, so it was really important to us to recycle or upcycle existing materials," Ms Ashburner-Gorse said.
"We've wanted it all to blend in because this is a country property and the lovely thing about pretty much everything in this silo is it's all been sourced locally, from the silo itself through to the big posts that hold it all together."
The old, galvanised silo was sourced from Millmerran, the ironbark timber poles came from a miller at Cecil Plains, and the spiral staircase originated from Stanthorpe.
From the outside, it looks relatively unchanged apart from some window cut-outs and a metal verandah.
On the inside, it's spread over two levels and features a fireplace, bar, cow hide, fridge, couch, and bathroom.
Due to the rocky terrain making underground power cables too expensive, and a desire for a low carbon footprint, the silo hotel is completely off-grid — running on solar panels and 12-volt batteries.
"That was important to us. The way forward is obviously, for the climate's sake, get off-grid," Ms Ashburner-Gorse said.
Abseiling at the office
Across the border in northern NSW, co-owner of agricultural chain B&W Rural, Peter Birch, and his partners, have transformed Moree's old multi-storey, concrete flour-mill building into office space.
"We knew it was all doable. It was just a matter of time — and jackhammers and dust and whatever — to get through, and fighting with the reinforced bar in the walls," Mr Birch said.
They also turned the four adjoining 1,000-tonne silos into a destination for adrenaline seekers.
"It's one of the few places in the north-west where you can abseil down the side of the building and come onto grass below. Most of the silos you can get access to you would come down on a building elsewhere," he said.
"There's 152 steps and a lot of people — if they're going to Kokoda or Kilimanjaro or the like — come and train there."
Built in 1951, the wheat mill was mothballed in the late 1970s, Mr Birch said.
Left to vandals and pigeons it was "a bit of a mess" until he and wife Jenni and their business partners at the time, Peter and Mary Weal, bought the complex in 1994.
Outgrowing their former premises they considered building a greenfield site further out in the industrial area.
But with strong foundations, a prominent location, and the desire to preserve the history, they decided to spend the time and the money on refurbishing the buildings.
"We quite often used to remind ourselves it did cost a lot of money and it did take a lot of time … but it's fantastic," he said.
As to whether Moree should become a stop in silo art trails, Mr Birch said in this case simplicity was divinity.
"Everyone says 'when are you going to paint the murals on the silos?'" he said.
"As soon as you start talking about it everyone's got a different idea of what should be there.
"Eventually Jenni said 'let's just leave it natural because whatever we paint on there someone's going to hate [it]'. So, we've just left it natural and it looks very good."