-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
The concrete wall of a Landus Cooperative grain elevator in Yetter gave out early in the morning on March 1.

YETTER — A structural failure on the northwest side of the grain elevator at the Landus Cooperative site in Yetter was the cause of a blowout in the early morning hours of March 1.

The collapse happened around 4:30 a.m. while a train was being loaded on site, with an unknown number of bushels of corn and concrete debris falling onto the CN Rail line at the location and the nearby Durant Avenue, according to Mary Harrington, communication and marketing leader for Landus. No injuries were reported.

“We’re grateful no one got hurt,” Harrington said.

According to Harrington, the damage was not caused by any explosion, and there was no fire risk. The damage was limited to one of the elevator’s receiving pits, while the other two remain operational,

Crews spent the day March 2 cleaning up the corn and debris, and Harrington said they were on track to resume rail traffic by the evening. She said there appears to be no damage to the railcars or rail track.

-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
The concrete wall of a Landus Cooperative grain elevator in Yetter gave out early in the morning on March 1.

Harrington said it will be a while before the cost of the damage is calculated.

“This is definitely a site that was on the list for reinvestment needs anyway, so we’ll be talking through what that looks like and what those reinvestment needs will be for the future,” she said.

Yetter is in western Calhoun County.

-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
The concrete wall of a Landus Cooperative grain elevator in Yetter gave out early in the morning on March 1.