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RAGAN — Eastbound drivers on the Highway 4 “Ragan Spur” see a complex of elevators and grain bins on the skyline. Not different from hundreds of small Nebraska towns — the local elevator stands out as a lone sentinel.

There are few cars or trucks on the highway, leading one to believe the town is deserted.

Not so.

Not this time of year.

It’s grain harvest time on the Great Plains.

Many of those drivers don’t know U.S. Highway 183 runs from Presho, S.D., to the Gulf of Mexico. It’s a path not dissimilar to what the grain being deposited at the Ragan elevator will make.

About 15 miles north of Alma, Highway 183 intersects state Highway 4, but locals call it the Ragan Spur because eight miles east sits the village of Ragan. A sign announces Ragan has a population of 59 people.

At this time of year, albeit later than normal because of unprecedented rainfall making harvest late, drivers pulling into Ragan and the area around the elevator complex see what looks like mass confusion as grain trucks up to semitrailer size jostle politely a place at the scales or to dump their golden load of grain.

The constant activity, however, is anything but confusion. Everyone knows where they are going and what they are doing.

They are being directed by employees of Cooperative Producers Inc.: location manager Becky Kindschuh of Funk, Mark Randall of Franklin, who is the outside superintendent, and Dave Barwick of Alma.

 “It’s our people who make it all run so good,” Kindschuh said. “We pride ourselves on viability and profitability for our patrons. This is a co-op, so we do the very best we can for them.”

Kindschuh has been location manager at Ragan for almost three years after filling the same position at Funk for more than 10 years.

Randall has been outside superintendent for 11 years, Barwick for 10.

Inside the little office with Kindschuh are Pam Robinson of Wilcox, who serves as office manager, and Julie Bartels of Ragan, who runs the scales.

Other employees are Joel Manohan of Alma, who works outside, and Dale Guthrie, who works part time in the evenings.

On this day, Kindschuh has been at work since 4 a.m. She wasn’t alone — the grain dryer has run all night.

In 2007, Midland Cooperative in Funk merged with two other companies to form CPI, Kindschuh said. It now operates 20 Nebraska locations ranging from Ragan to Franklin, west to Waco, from Republican City to Red Cloud, and Funk to Sutton. The corporate office is in Hastings.

“There are very few independent companies in this day and age,” she said. “It’s economy of size and scale.”

With working for a larger company also comes more regulations, but it also means the company is able to offer better benefits to its employees, can offer more safety, and more programs for employees

“Instead of having to lay people off at a site that’s not quite as busy at a particular time, we can move them to a site where they are needed,” Kindschuh said. Kindschuh is the only woman location manager in the CPI system.

Most of the soybeans the company takes in are shipped to Funk and leave via the train. Most corn stays in the area for feedlots and ethanol plants.

The biggest change in raising grain came about in 2000, when people started putting in center-pivot irrigation systems.

“Our business just exploded,” Kindschuh said, but now we are all worried about the water issues. We try to keep up with what is happening. What does happen could have a huge impact on our producers and our company.”

Kindschuh said although it was not her original plan to be a location manager, she loves harvest.

“You work the whole year and worry and do everything you can to help your producers be profitable,” she said. “It’s our job to take care of them so they can make their living farming.

“It’s nice to walk around the complex and give someone a pat on the back for a job well done, but the goal is to go home at night and know that we did the best job we could for our people. If you do a good job, you always want to do more. There is a lot of pride at this elevator in Ragan.”

She said she would like to give everyone a day off, but they know that isn’t possible at this time of year.

“Harvest is really exciting,” she said. “You look at the number of bushels you took in the day before and you can’t believe it — wow. We really did that yesterday?’”

“You look at the trucks as they come one after another. They are good people, and these are good people working at the elevator. We appreciate the customers. Without them we don’t have any value. It’s a two-way street.”

e-mail to:

betsy.friedrich@kearneyhub.com