The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) honored corn growers for their efforts in promoting ethanol at the 23rd Annual Ethanol Conference and Trade Show in Kansas City this week. The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and 11 corn grower states were recognized by ACE with the “Paul Dana Marketing Vision Award” for their support in making the BYOEthanol campaign possible.

NCGA President Darrin Ihnen, a grower from Hurley, S.D., addressed the conference on the organization’s efforts to promote ethanol and their work with ACE and other ethanol organizations to ensure ethanol supporters speak with a unified voice in Washington on issues important to the industry.

Ihnen also discussed the important issues the ethanol industry faces such as the expiration of the blenders tax credit at the end of this year, EPA delaying the approval of E15 and the Senate’s current failure to produce an energy bill that includes ethanol.

“We are disappointed that the Senate will not pass an energy bill before they recess this week, but at the same time, the bill Reid introduced did not have ethanol provisions. This will give us additional time to educate legislators on the importance of this renewable, domestically produced fuel,” said Ihnen. “The downside is that by pushing it back to September, the bill would have to pass extremely quickly as the Senate will recess in October for the 2010 elections.”

ACE also presented the South Dakota Corn Growers Association and Corn Utilization Council with the President’s Award for “principled dedication and support” of the industry.

Listen to or download my interview with Darrin Ihnen here: NCGA president Darrin Ihnen