From rising material costs to lingering labor shortages, the landscape of pole barn construction is evolving yet again as we look ahead to 2025.
Builders and businesses face a mix of challenges and opportunities shaped by economic policies, post-pandemic recovery, and fluctuating market conditions. While uncertainties remain—such as the potential impacts of the new administration's tariffs — pole barn construction continues to be a necessary and resilient solution for agricultural, commercial, and residential needs.
So, what should pole barn builders prepare for in the coming year? Here's a closer look at what to expect in 2025 and how to stay ahead of the curve.
Post Frame Construction: What to Expect in 2025
The biggest wildcard heading into 2025 is how the incoming Trump administration will influence construction prices. President-elect Trump has promised to impose tariffs on a broad range of imported goods, which could lead to significant cost fluctuations for building materials such as steel, lumber, and other raw components vital to pole barn construction.
While the intention behind these tariffs is to bolster domestic production, the immediate effect may result in higher prices, especially for materials reliant on global trade. This creates an air of uncertainty for builders and suppliers as they navigate potential price increases and supply chain disruptions.
Looking at the broader forecast for post frame construction in 2025, projections reveal a mixed bag of opportunities and challenges—many still rooted in the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic volatility. Builders must prepare for headwinds in key areas while also capitalizing on emerging opportunities. Here's what to watch:
- Material costs
- Labor issues
- Supply chain shortfalls
- Inflation
1. Material Costs
After staying relatively flat in 2024, material costs in 2025 are expected to rise 5-7%. The increases will be driven by demand surges from natural disasters, rapid growth in key sectors, and sensitivity to evolving economic policies.
Here are some factors for pole barn construction companies to keep an eye on:
- Steel prices appear to be stabilizing after a challenging 2024, with industry experts expressing cautious optimism for recovery in 2025. Key drivers of this outlook include strategic investments, government support, and increasing demand for sustainable production, though significant challenges like capital investment and technological innovation remain.
- Lumber prices will remain relatively stable but elevated, hovering between $500-$600 per thousand board feet. Factors influencing this outlook include continued housing market demand, moderate improvements in mill production, and supply chain resilience. However, potential disruptions such as wildfires, inflationary pressures, and global trade uncertainties may introduce some volatility, preventing a significant price decline to pre-pandemic levels.
- Concrete and Insulation: Costs for these materials will remain steady, while drywall may see a slight uptick due to energy costs in production.
While costs are no longer near their 2021 highs, builders should anticipate periodic volatility and factor contingencies into their quotes.
2. Labor Shortages
Unfortunately, labor shortages will continue to plague construction companies in 2025. More than 75% of contractors are finding it difficult to fill skilled positions.
This trend doesn’t appear to be slowing anytime soon. About 40% of current construction workers will be retired by 2035. Although automation and robotics have mitigated some labor shortages, skilled human workers remain essential for complex tasks that demand advanced dexterity and problem-solving abilities.
On the plus side, construction job openings have declined 40% from October 2023 to October 2024, falling from about 413,000 openings to 249,000. The construction industry saw job growth at twice the pace of the overall economy in 2024 and is projected to maintain employment gains through at least early 2025.
This means that pole barn construction companies should be prepared to face challenges in finding and keeping enough workers. To address this, they may need to offer higher wages to attract and retain qualified employees.
3. Supply Chain
Although the major supply chain disruptions that began in 2020 have subsided, the construction industry still faces ongoing challenges, such as product shortages and rising costs. Issues with global sourcing of raw materials remain, with recent data showing material prices started climbing again in late summer 2024. This indicates that supply chain disruptions are likely to persist into 2025.
Your best bet? Keep a close eye on materials and keep in contact with your supply chain partners.
Key factors affecting the post frame building supply chain in 2025 to watch include:
- Trade route disruptions
- Extreme weather
- Nearshoring
- Artificial intelligence and machine learning
- Automation
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4. Inflation
Back to the expected good news for 2025.
The economic fallout from the pandemic coupled with other world events made life tough with inflation driving prices up on goods and services across the board. For consumers and businesses, contending with higher prices meant prioritizing spending. Thus, new construction projects may have been put on the back burner.
While it's a bit more tricky to predict, economists anticipate inflation to continue easing during 2025. Inflation is anticipated to average 2.2% in 2025, nearing the Federal Reserve's target of 2%. This represents a decline from the estimated 2.5% inflation rate at the end of 2024.
Reduced inflation benefits pole barn construction in two ways:
- Construction costs (materials, labor, etc.) are not as burdensome.
- Pole barn projects are a more palatable investment.
As We’ve Seen It
While inflation is difficult for any business or consumer, if a pole barn is needed, it’s needed. In other words, sometimes a pole barn is a necessity. Despite inflation, we’ve seen many of our partners completing plenty of projects for the commercial and agriculture sectors.
Heading Off 2025's Challenges Affecting Pole Barn Construction
While it's nearly impossible to predict exactly how 2025 will play out, a pole barn builder can take one important step to add more stability to their business – partner with a material supplier.
Working with a post frame building materials supplier helps your company meet several challenges head-on.
Having an established relationship with a materials supplier gives your business access to vital building components at competitive prices. Material suppliers often purchase raw materials in bulk, opening the doors to savings for their partners.
Partnering with a reliable materials supplier means that when supply chain issues arise, the headache of working through them isn’t yours – it’s theirs. Moreover, if something should happen that impacts production or delivery times – say, an extreme weather event – an experienced supplier works with you to ensure a smooth transition back into regular operations.
Finally, by partnering with a building components manufacturer, pole barn builders can rest easy knowing the impacts of inflation cost fluctuations are minimized. By having a supplier as a partner, your business can take advantage of more reasonable prices and make decisions based on more accurate estimates for project costs.
Ultimately, partnering with a reliable building materials supplier gives your pole barn construction business a competitive edge, regardless of the year.
Outlook 2025 | Making the New Year Your Best Year
It's important to keep in mind that while some challenges may be faced by the construction industry in 2025, there are also a number of positive indicators that suggest a healthy year for businesses. By keeping an eye on key factors and partnering with a reliable supplier, pole barn builders can mitigate many potential risks and ensure their business remains strong throughout the year.
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