SD Corn

Corn farmers from all across this great land will assemble this week in Washington D.C. for Corn Congress 2010 to discuss policy and meet with our nation’s leaders. Corn Congress not only allows the delegates to meet with representatives, but also delegates/farmers from other states that may share similar concerns.

“Coming to Washington is always an exciting time,” said, SDCGA President and Oldham, SD farmer, Gary Duffy. “There’s no better place to develop policy and talk about the issues and the legislation that affect corn growers back on the farm.”

A number of important topics including Farm Bill, CARB lawsuit and agriculture transportation will be discussed at Corn Congress, but the number one priority to be voiced by the South Dakota delegates will be ethanol. The ethanol industry has a number of concerns including the need for higher blends like E 15, mandatory flex-fuel vehicles and VEETC, which expires at the end of the year.

“You can sense the enthusiasm from our delegates, they understand the importance of the issues faced by farmers and know what needs to be done,” said Duffy. “Our delegates take pride in representing our states’ producers and appreciate the opportunity to spend time talking about their concerns directly with members of congress.”

11 Board directors from both the South Dakota Corn Growers Association and South Dakota Corn Utilization Council will be on Capitol Hill this week including Keith Alverson, Chad Blindauer, Jim Burg, Bill Chase, David Gillen, Brian Smith, Jim Thyen, Walt Bones, David Fremark, Mark Gross and Darrin Ihnen.

All of the South Dakota delegates will meet personally with Rep. Herseth-Sandlin, Sen. John Thune and Sen. Tim Johnson.

“South Dakota is blessed to have a close connection with their representatives,” said Duffy.  “They want to hear from farmers personally.”

Darrin Ihnen was born and raised on a family farm in rural Hurley, South Dakota. Agriculture is just something that has always been important in Darrin’s life.

“Darrin showed interest in farming when he was in FFA in school. He had livestock out here He had hogs and did some farrowing and he did other projects and was quite active in FFA, so that’s when I knew he wanted to be a farmer,” said Roger Ihnen, Darrin’s father.

Today, Darrin farms corn, soybeans and wheat with his father. They also have a hog finishing and a cow/calf operation. Darrin attended South Dakota State University, studying Ag Business, and he and his wife, Becky, have four children: Kelsey, Kayla, Kilee and Jacob.

Darrin’s leadership in agriculture includes being active on the South Dakota Corn Council board. Ihnen is a past president of the SDCGA and also served as Vice-President of the NCGA before his current role as President.  He is also a board member of POET Biorefining in Chancellor, S.D. Ihnen played a key role in the birth and growth of the locally owned ethanol plant.

“Darrin actually brought the producers over and they started their own group making possible the 100 million gallon, farmer-owned ethanol plant,” said Lisa Richardson, Executive Director of SDCGA. “I have watched Darrin develop into a leader who people follow…he’s a gentle giant in our industry,”

Darrin’s leadership in agriculture has been widely noted on the local, state and national level.

“Darrin’s been a great representative for South Dakota agriculture generally, but also for South Dakota Corn Growers and now, of course, for national corn growers,” said United States Senator, John Thune.

The National Corn Growers Association is the largest trade group representing corn growers in the United States. The group has more than 35,000 national members while representing 300,000 corn farmers who are members of state organizations. NCGA and its 48 affiliated state associations and check off organizations work together to create and increase opportunities for their members and their industry.

NCGA CEO, Rick Tollman, said, “We’ve had a long history of outstanding leaders in the National Corn Growers. I am impressed again that the right person seems to come to the forefront at the right time. And Darrin is among the best of those.”

The ethanol industry is currently awaiting an EPA decision that would move the conventional ethanol blend limit from E 10 to E 15. A decision is expected sometime in mid 2010. Of course there is plenty of opposition, but a move from E 10 to E 15 would benefit the United States in a number of ways including the economy, environment and energy security.

Economy

According to a study by North Dakota State University, move from E 10 to E 15 would create and support more than 136,000 new jobs and inject $24.4 billion into the American economy annually. What could our country use right now more than jobs? Especially good paying jobs based in rural communities.

Research by the Nebraska Corn Growers, shows that higher blends of ethanol provide better energy conversion within an engine than other fuels, meaning you can travel farther on less energy. This not only saves you money, but it puts 100% of that money back into the local economy.

Environment

 According to the United States Department of Energy, the use of E 15 instead of conventional gasoline would reduce greenhouse gases by more than 40 million tons of CO2 per year or the greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to removing 10.5 million cars from the road each year.

Energy Security

Each year the United States sends billions of dollars to unstable countries to meet our energy needs. An increase in the conventional ethanol blend will lessen our dependence on foreign oil and increase the production of our own clean-burning, renewable fuel. Growth in the current ethanol industry will also lead the way for futuristic biofuels.

“Homegrown biofuels can do even more to reduce our dependence on imported energy sources if the EPA approves E15,” said United States Senator, John Thune of South Dakota. “Renewable fuels create jobs in rural South Dakota and keep our energy dollars in the country. Intermediate blends like E15 will expand the biofuels industry and help pave the way for cellulosic ethanol.”