Landus to Reopen Iowa Grain Facility Following Dust Explosion

Agricultural firm Landus Cooperative announced that it will rebuild its Jefferson grain receiving and corn drying facility in Jefferson, IA and resume operations by the harvest this fall after a dust explosion and fire on May 14 severely damaged the site.

“We’re so thankful to the local fire and rescue teams who responded to last Friday’s emergency and even more thankful that no one was hurt,” Matt Carstens, the cooperatives CEO and president, said in a recent release. “True to ‘The Landus Way’ of acting with agility, courage, teamwork, and speed, we are now forging ahead with the planning to rebuild to Jefferson location to be bigger and better than before.”

Landus said it has launched an assessment of the causes of the incident and will perform corrective actions based on the findings. Two co-located facilities, the Landus Beef Feed Center and the Landus SoyChlor production plant, were not impacted by the explosion and blaze.

“An initial investigation following today’s dust explosion at the Landus Jefferson has identified smoldering grain in a self-contained bin located next to the grain elevator the company said in a statement shortly following the incident. “A salvage company specializing in extinguishing grain is expected onsite this afternoon to safely remove the grain from the bin.”

Workers were moving grain to load it onto railcars at the time the explosion happened, local police told news broadcaster WOI-TV. Jefferson Police Chief Make Clouse said in coverage by the Des Moines Register that the blast caused “catastrophic” damage to the elevator.

Another explosion reportedly occurred at the facility on May 15. No injuries were reported in both incidents.