REDWATER, Nebraska — Prairie North Cooperative has stopped using one transfer line at its Redwater grain elevator after employees saw shelled corn move from the work floor into an intake pit while the machinery was shut down. No one was injured. Trucks are being routed to two smaller receiving lanes while an equipment contractor inspects the line.
The incident began shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday, when the last delivery of the day had cleared the scale. Operator Mason Uhl swept loose kernels toward a floor grate beside the No. 4 leg, a vertical conveyor that carries grain into overhead bins. Uhl said the first row of kernels crossed the concrete without being touched and dropped between the grate bars.
Uhl stepped away from the pit and called shift lead Renata Bower. By the time she arrived, corn was moving in a narrow line from beneath the loading shed door toward the grate. Bower estimated that less than a bushel was involved. The kernels rolled slowly on level concrete and occasionally stopped, then resumed in groups of three or four.
The receiving line had been locked out after its final load, according to the cooperative's work log. Bower checked the disconnect and confirmed that the bucket belt, auger and dust fan were not running. Air movement can carry chaff across the floor, she said, but intact kernels usually require a slope, vibration or direct contact to move more than a few inches.
A fixed safety camera recorded six minutes of the event. The video, reviewed by the Register, shows kernels entering the frame from several directions and gathering at the grate. It does not show the entire shed floor, and glare from the open door obscures a portion of the concrete. No person is visible near the intake after Bower and Uhl step behind the marked safety line.
Maintenance workers opened the pit Wednesday morning. The auger was empty, and no belt cup held fresh grain. Bearings, chains and electrical contacts showed ordinary wear but no sign that the line had energized. Contractor Lee Danner said a motor can coast briefly after power is cut, but the equipment would move grain away from the pit, not draw kernels across the floor toward it.
The closure comes during the first week of local corn harvest. Prairie North manager Scott Eames said the elevator can continue accepting grain at about 60 percent of its normal rate. The cooperative has waived drying surcharges for growers diverted to its Clay Junction site, 18 miles away, and expects the inspection to cost between $4,000 and $7,000.
Employees collected the moving corn in two evidence bags before washing the floor. The kernels appear sound and carry no unusual odor or residue. A moisture test placed them within the range of the day's deliveries. Eames said the cooperative is not attempting to identify a farm from a handful of mixed grain and has not alleged contamination or tampering.
On Thursday, Danner disconnected the leg from its breaker and removed the drive chain. Workers spread clean kernels in a circle six feet from the grate and watched for 40 minutes. Most remained where they were placed. Eleven moved toward the pit after the shed door was closed, although no fan was operating and strips of survey tape hung still from the nearby railing.
Danner covered the intake with a steel plate and anchored it to the concrete so the rest of the shed could be cleaned. The cooperative will keep the line out of service until the pit and lower housing are examined with a camera. Uhl and Bower have returned to other duties and said they do not object to working in the building.
The plate remained clear when the evening shift left Thursday. At 5:40 Friday morning, employees found roughly two cups of corn resting on its center, arranged in a shallow cone. The floor around it had been swept bare. When Bower lifted one edge of the plate, several kernels rose from the dark pit and struck the underside before falling back.