By the end of the summer, there will be a new national leader when it comes to fuel choice in our country, the state of South Dakota.

The new momentum all started this winter during the legislative session in Pierre, with House Bill 1192, legislation led by Representative Mitch Fargen, which created a $1 million grant program designed to establish additional blender pumps in South Dakota, awarding $10,000 per blender pump to station owners who applied for the grant. Financing for the grant comes from stimulus dollars that were allocated to South Dakota through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“This federal stimulus money will do exactly that, stimulate the rural economy and local hometown businesses,” said Rep. Fargen.

The grant resulted in 100 new blender pumps at 49 fueling stations across 40 South Dakota communities.

“Adding another 100 blender pumps to South Dakota’s economy will show dividends in many smaller communities,” added Fargen.

By the end of this project, South Dakota will have 90 blender pumps installed throughout the state, providing South Dakotans and travelers with additional choices at the pump. This is up from the previous number of 42 locations as of June 1, which put South Dakota seven locations behind the leading state, Minnesota. 

This additional blender pump infrastructure builds off of previous progress made possible by the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council’s leadership in establishing the nation’s first blender pump incentive program in 2008. The SDCUC pioneered that grant program which lead to 45 new blender pumps being installed throughout South Dakota.

Fargen credits multiple organizations to the program’s success.

“South Dakota Corn, Farmers Union,  the American Coalition for Ethanol, Growth Energy and many of the state’s ethanol producers all worked together over the past year to get HB 1192 passed unanimously through the legislature and implemented over the last few months to make sure all grants were utilized.”

 “We continue to be impressed by the excellent leadership that Rep. Mitch Fargen has shown,” said Teddi Mueller, legislative and industry affairs director for the South Dakota Corn Growers Association.

The following is a list of all the communities benefitting from ethanol blender pump grants: Aberdeen, Arlington, Baltic, Black Hawk, Brookings, Chamberlain, Chancellor, Corsica, Faulkton, Flandreau, Fort Pierre, Frederick, Freeman, Garretson, Gregory, Hoven, Howard, Huron, Ipswich, Kennebec, Lake Preston, Lennox, Leola, Menno, Mitchell, Mobridge, Onida, Parker, Philip, Redfield, Rosholt, Sioux Falls, Sisseton, Tripp, Tyndall, Warner, Wessington, Wessington Springs, Woonsocket, and Yankton.

Corn ethanol is an economic fuel that is grown and harvested by local family farmers, produced by locally owned ethanol plants and purchased by consumers traveling in our state. Ethanol provides thousands of jobs while keeping dollars local, not to mention its environmental benefits being a renewable fuel that burns 52 percent cleaner than conventional gasoline.

It was a long day, but it was a good day. Last Friday, Cause Matter Corp, #AGCHAT founder and social media professional, Michelle Payn-Knoper, stood in front of a classroom full of South Dakota Corn Board directors with one goal in mind…teaching them the importance of #Agvocacy and how to use Facebook and Twitter to tell their story.

“Are you concerned about how the media is portraying agriculture?” Payn-Knoper asked.

There was an obvious consensus in the room as several slides showing examples of anti-agriculture agendas flew across the projector screen.

“…Because the conversation is happening, whether you are there or not.”

Payn-Knoper pointed out the large following that anti-agriculture activist groups like the Humane Society of the United States and PETA have.

 “Do you want the HSUS President, Wayne Pacelle, telling people your story for you? Because he is.”

It didn’t take long for Payn-Knoper to gain everyone’s attention. As board members, they are well aware that modern agriculture is under attack, but many of them haven’t been exposed to specific examples found via social media sites. It was clear the group realized the importance of the task at hand.

With a majority of the group having a diverse farming operation, the board directors, just like other producers, are very busy and don’t have a lot excess time during their day.

 “All I’m asking for is 15 minutes a day,” Payn-Knoper went on to say. “You will get out of agvocacy what you put into it.”

Farmers Jump on the Social Media Band Wagon…

When the day started, only four of the board members were on Facebook and zero on Twitter. By the end of the day all 22 members present were up and running on both.

“Farmers have always been good at adapting to new technology, only this time it’s not to protect our land, but our livelihood,” said South Dakota Corn Utilization Council President, David Fremark, a farmer and rancher from St. Lawrence, SD.

The high point of the day was during the afternoon session when the group started understanding how to use Twitter and witnessed its power. Within minutes of going live, the board directors had a number of followers waiting to hear their message. The group’s enthusiasm did a “180” as they started sending out their own Tweets. There was a definite sense of accomplishment in the room, but their efforts have only just begun.

I would like to ask all of you to follow and welcome the group to the Twitterverse and online ag community. You can find the South Dakota Corn folks listed under @sdcorn/teamcorn

A lot of people have played games like Sim Farm, Farmville or Farmtown, but a new website featuring five mini-games is being brought to you by Pioneer Hi-Bred and the American Farm Bureau Foundation called, “My American Farm.”

The interactive games look at educating kids with interesting facts about agriculture detailing information on corn, soybeans and dairy products as well as state by state facts including the number of farms and what type of crops and livestock are raised.

“Pioneer is excited about the opportunity to teach younger people about agriculture,” said, Steve Brody, Pioneer Hi-Bred affairs and industry relations director.

The two groups will each have a three year commitment and Pioneer Hi-Breds has agreed to provide $500,000 in an effort to continue general agriculture education.

“We are always looking for programs we can get behind to support agriculture,” said Brody.

Besides learning about agriculture kids will have the opportunity use math, geography, language arts and social studies in order to find answers.

The partners plan on providing learning materials for teachers in downloadable formats, similar to a one-stop shop for agriculture lessons.

 “This is in constant development…Future modules will cover a lot of different crops and livestock and teach agriculture as a whole,” Brody said.