Our Team

John Meuret

Merchandiser
john.meuret@jemeuretgrain.com

Riley Meuret

Feed Operations/Merchandiser
riley.meuret@jemeuretgrain.com

J.E. Meuret Grain Company Inc. is a family-owned grain business headquartered in Brunswick, Nebraska, since 1923. We’re proud of our history spanning four generations and our impact we’ve made on the agriculture industry.

Joseph Edward (J.E.) Meuret moved from Wisconsin to Nebraska to manage an elevator in Orchard. In 1923, he purchased the Brunswick Elevator for $6,000 and named it J.E. Meuret Grain Company.

In 1947, J.E. Meuret died suddenly at the age of 66, leaving his wife Katie as the sole owner with six young children at home. Their two oldest sons, Lee and John Sr., (ages 16 and 15 at the time) took turns attending high school and running the business on alternating days. Their younger brothers – Joseph (Joe) and Richard (Dick) – joined in as they were old enough to help, too. After graduating high school, John and Dick ended up staying in Brunswick to run the business, adding additional bins to grow the capacity and fertilizer services to diversify their offerings. 

In the late 1970s, Burlington Northern planned to abandon the rail line into Brunswick. Recognizing the impact it would have on the businesses, farmers, and communities along the spur, John and Dick instead convinced the railroad to invest millions of dollars in upgrades. In 1980, the improved rail line carried its first unit grain train loaded with 200,000 bushels of corn from J.E. Meuret Grain Company to Seattle, destined for overseas export. The ability to ship by rail meant better prices for local farmers, additional growth for J.E. Meuret Grain Co., Inc., and more economic opportunities along the entire spur. 

By the late 1980s, John and Dick were ready to take a step back and allow the next generation to take the reins. Two of John’s sons, Pat and Jim, had worked at J.E. Meuret Grain since they were children and returned to the family business after just a few years away at college. Pat oversaw the grain trading and shipping, Jim managed the day-to-day operations, including the growing number of employees. 

Throughout the 1990s, Pat and Jim saw possibilities that existed in expanding the business, branching into feed production and livestock including turkeys. A giant fiberglass turkey even sat in front of the main office for a few years and occasionally made its way into parades in communities around Northeast Nebraska. 

A new main office was needed soon into the 2000s, as the fourth generation of Meurets returned to join the family business. Pat’s sons, John, James, and Justin, were first to return. Jim’s sons, Matt and Riley, soon followed. John Sr. loved stopping into the office to talk shop with his sons and grandsons, and they appreciated hearing his wisdom and wit. 

The 2010s saw J.E. Meuret Grain Company continue to expand. The headquarters remain in Brunswick, with additional facilities added at Copenhagen, Creighton, Dakota City, Crofton, Atkinson, Orchard, and Pierce. The additional storage and shipping facilities are only part of the business’s offerings. A state-of-the-art feed mill serves livestock operators throughout the region. The Dakota City facility is the largest distributor of organic grain to the west coast. And farmers can purchase crop insurance through agents associated with J.E. Meuret Grain. 

In 2023, J.E. Meuret Grain Company celebrates its centennial: 100 years of working as a family to help farmers throughout Northeast Nebraska prosper and feed the world. Throughout the life of the business, the Meuret family has operated with the belief tat the success of the business is tied directly to the success of its customers. The Meuret family is grateful for the support and patronage of those customers for the past century and in the years to come.