Farmers Union: An Advocate for Ethanol Since the Beginning

August 6, 2015 – By #South Dakota Farmer Union

Although his corn has a ways to grow before harvest 2015, like most corn farmers, Orrie Swayze knows where his crop will go once it leaves his Wilmot farm.

“Most all of my corn goes into ethanol. Our local elevator supplies a local plant,” says Swayze, 71, who only farms part-time these days, entrusting most of the fieldwork to his son, Patrick. 

The Swayze’s corn is among more than 361 million bushels of South Dakota corn converted to ethanol and its co-products each year; supplying an industry which contributes almost $4 billion to the state’s economy annually, according to a 2012 South Dakota State University study.

 Swayze played a significant role in the grassroots efforts to welcome the budding industry to South Dakota in the mid-80s – a time when, as Swayze puts it, “The whole state’s economy was in the doldrums and our farmers and rural communities were hurting.”

 Working closely with South Dakota Farmers Union, an organization he has been a member of since 1972, and a few local Legislators, Swayze was one of four farmers who dedicated themselves to advocating for the renewable fuel.

 “Governor Janklow called the four of us the ‘Ethanol Missionaries,'” he says, recalling the work that he, Roland Pester, Jim Pufhal and Roland Schnable did to get a state-based cash incentive passed. Dollars were raised through a pipeline tax on all petroleum products to encourage ethanol plants to build in South Dakota. “We were always there, lobbying committee meetings and testifying.”

 New to advocacy, Swayze says he was driven by the knowledge that ethanol could help reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil. “I’m a Vietnam Vet.

My brother was killed over there. I knew oil was at the center of nearly every conflict and I thought, at least I can do this to end this type of war,” says Swayze, a pilot who flew 100 missions over North Vietnam.

 Along with lobbying the South Dakota Legislature, Farmers Union worked to get the message out about ethanol by working with local groups like the VFW to organize events like the “Drive for Energy Independence.”

 Swayze took to writing letters to the editor – a skill he continues to hone on his website, www.saferair.net.

 “Establishing an ethanol industry in South Dakota became a cause for Farmers Union because, for decades, the price of corn was stuck. It would only move a few cents up or down ­ and the biggest reason for this was we didn’t have another market to help lower the basis,” explained Doug Sombke, President of South Dakota Farmers Union. “We knew our family farmers and rural communities needed a local market and ethanol brought so many other benefits along with it ­ including cleaner air and energy independence.”

 Swayze added, “As members of South Dakota Farmers Union, we believed we could change the face of agriculture through futuristic legislation. And it worked.”

 Today, Brian Jennings, Executive Vice President of the American Coalition for Ethanol, attributes the industry’s success in South Dakota to the grassroots efforts of Farmers Union and citizens like Swayze. “Farmers Union members were among the first to step up and invest their hard-earned money in ethanol production projects,” Jennings said.

 He references Farmers Union’s work at the state and federal level to establish state-based tax incentives for ethanol plants. “These programs have been long-phased out because there is no real need for them anymore, but back when some of the first plants were being built in the state ­ like when the Broin plant was built in Scotland in the mid-80s ­ it was difficult to get share holders to invest enough money because times were tough on the farm and it was difficult to get lenders to step up to the plate to provide loans that were needed.”

 As the ethanol industry took hold in rural South Dakota communities, it increased local demand for corn, driving the price per bushel up ­ prices for other commodities followed. “On average, the ethanol industry generates an additional 25 cents per bushel,” says Tom Hitchcock, Chief Executive Officer for Redfield Energy, a plant which produces 60 million gallons of ethanol and 160,000 tons of dried distillers grain (DDG) and has 42 full-time employees, making it one of the largest employers in Spink County.

 According to the SDSU study, about 2,000 South Dakotans are employed by the 15 ethanol plants which operate in communities across South Dakota. On average, these employees earn $63,496 annually.

 These ethanol plants also gave South Dakotans a local industry to invest in.

 “Commodity prices are down this year, and you wouldn¹t believe how many farmers I talk to who say, ‘Thank God I’m invested in the ethanol plants,'” says Sombke. “Their dividends / distributions are getting them through tough times.”

 What’s next for South Dakota’s ethanol industry?

Three decades old, the ethanol industry still keeps its advocates busy. “Now the industry faces another dilemma with the EPA pulling back on its support of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS),”Sombke explained.

 In March, South Dakota Farmers Union joined with American Coalition of Ethanol and other organizations on Biofuels Beltway March in D.C. to lobby Congressional leaders to encourage the EPA to maintain support of the RFS.

 “Big Oil is the reason we¹re still advocating for ethanol,” Swayze says.

 Swayze goes on to explain that today his motivation to support the growth of the ethanol industry is spurred by recent research that gasoline’s benzene and related tailpipe emissions actually destroy babies’ brain matter before and after birth. “Blending to 30 percent ethanol will nearly eliminate these emissions,” he said.

 Farmers Union will continue its support of ethanol on the state and national level. “We know that ethanol is good for the earth, agriculture and rural communities. The work Farmers Union is doing today to support the ethanol industry is for future generations of South Dakotans,” says Sombke, who farms with his three sons near Conde.

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Last Modified: 08/06/2015 7:19:22 am MDT