SD Corn

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.”

South Dakota has always been a leader in renewable fuels and current state legislation looks to make sure that the progress continues.

House Bill 1192 would create a grant program using $1 million in federal stimulus money through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and would be used for the installation of additional ethanol blender pumps in South Dakota.

The grants would be issued between April 1 and May 28 of 2010 exceeding no more than $10,000. Gas stations are allowed to receive more than one grant if they choose to install multiple blender pumps.

The prime sponsor of the bill, Representative Mitch Fargen of District 8, received bipartisan support as the bill passed the House State Affairs Committee unanimously 13-0 on Thursday, Feb. 18. The bill now moves into the Senate for consideration.

The bill is modeled after past blender pump infrastructure programs developed by the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council which has been successful in establishing over 40 blender pumps across the state.

Ron Lamberty of the American Coalition for Ethanol states, “The blender pump has become a reasonable solution to the challenge of increasing the availability of E85 and ethanol blends beyond E10. In addition to the fact that blender pumps give the marketer the ability to offer those higher blends without replacing underground storage tanks and fuel lines – a huge cost savings – the pumps are used by every customer that comes to a station, which means all purchases help with the payback of the pump, making payback of the non-flex fuel portion much faster.”

Ethanol blender pumps are nothing new to South Dakota. In fact, South Dakota was the first state to install the pumps thanks to the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council. SDCUC continues to be a leader in the ethanol industry by adding additional infrastructure and looks to continue its progress with the current legislation.

Owen Jones, a farmer and rancher from Britton, SD writes, “With the incentives outlined in HB 1192, the State of South Dakota can play a significant role in getting the proper distribution system in place for the future of renewable fuels. Instead of dispensing one product, five different products can be dispensed from one pump. Another reason I am very supportive of this Bill is the fact that this legislation is not only good for the ethanol industry, but it is good for our nation. We need to rid ourselves of the addiction on foreign oil and change to a renewable fuel system which our nation controls.”