
SIRE: Farmer-Owned Sustainability
SIRE originated from a visionary group of local farmers who saw an opportunity to add value to their crops while supporting the local community. After grassroots fundraising gathered over $60 million in investment, the farmer-owned cooperative broke ground on a state-of-the-art, 110 million-gallon-per-year dry-mill ethanol facility. When SIRE became incorporated in 2005 and began production in 2009 on its 275 acres, it quickly became a major economic engine for the region, purchasing over 42 million bushels of corn annually from local farmers.
Today, hundreds of area farmers hold ownership stake in the company. By producing high-quality, low-carbon ethanol and feed products, SIRE exemplifies agricultural innovation and sustainability.
The founding farmers’ vision of communal progress through smart business lives on. As SIRE continues to implement energy-efficient technologies and explore renewable partnerships, they empower area growers to advance regenerative practices that benefit both family farms and the planet.
Our Commitment to Sustainability
Sustainability has been a core value for SIRE since our founding farmers envisioned a community-centered ethanol facility. Upgrades have put our energy efficiency in the top 15% of peer plants. We also pursue partnerships to develop lower-carbon fuels, like our recent collaboration with Gevo to promote eco-friendly farming methods. This allows us to reward sustainable growing with higher profits for both our supplying farmers and our facility.
We implement regenerative agriculture practices with farmers across our supply chain to increase sustainability from the ground up. Our motivation is twofold: environmental stewardship is simply the right thing to do, and the growing biofuel market favors low-carbon ethanol. This unique business model exemplifies the visionary and community-focused spirit that has defined SIRE from the beginning.

Our Leadership Team
The core of who we are and what we do is all because of our rockstar people. Each one has helped shape SIRE into the sustainable, farmer-focused plant that it is today. Meet some of our awesome people below!
Mike Jerke
Mike is responsible to the board of directors and is in charge of the general oversight of the business.