At the GGC annual meeting, Executive Vice President Scott Stofferahn presented a ‘preferred’ plan that would result in a reduction in Board members from 15 to 9 and Districts from 5 to 3.  Stofferahn explained that the reduction could be accomplished over a two year period from 2020 to 2021 when current Directors reach their term limits for serving on the Board.

Stofferahn stated that the Board has not endorsed a plan, but they identified a preferred option to present to GGC members.

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The preferred option would create Central, Northern, and Southern member districts.  The Central District would include MN counties of  Richland & Wilkin and the ND County of Cass.  The Northern District would include counties in Minnesota and North Dakota north of Richland and Wilkin Counties (excluding Cass).  The Southern District would include MN, ND, and  SD counties south of Cass (excluding Richland and Wilkin) plus all members living outside of the three state area.

Central – 511 members

Northern – 553 members

Southern – 487 members

Two Directors would be elected from each District and three directors would be elected ‘at large’ from all districts.

Stofferahn shared research on Board size which indicated the following:

• Larger Boards: Allow for more member engagement; Are associated with complex organizations and outside directors; and Allow for greater continuity.
• Smaller Boards: Are more effective at monitoring the business of the organization; Tend to be more engaged; Result in improved decision making; and Cost less.

Stofferahn cautioned, “Not all large boards result in better member engagement. And not all small boards are more effective and engaged.”

According to a 2003 Survey of 437 Cooperatives, a 7 member board was most common.

At Large Board membership was a topic of discussion at the annual meeting.  The advantage of allowing ‘at large’ board members would be to allow for a larger pool of candidates for three of the board positions.  A disadvantage could be that a single district could be over represented on the Board.

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When EPA Secretary Pruit toured the states of South Dakota and Iowa in June, he was met by farmers protesting the Agency’s unwillingness to make good on a promise by President Trump to allow E15 to be sold all year round.

At issue is an EPA regulation on Reed vapor pressure (RVP) that effectively bans 15% ethanol fuel blends from being sold in most markets during the summer even though E15 has lower RVP emissions than gasoline sold in the same markets.

In April, 18 Senators (including all from ND, SD, & MN) signed a letter asking Pruit to expedite the rulemaking process on the President’s commitment. Yet two months later, there has been zero action by the EPA.

In the months preceding the Senators letter on E15, the EPA was aggressively granting ‘hardship’ waivers intended for smaller refiners that would otherwise face severe financial hardship complying with the Renewable Fuels Standard. Dozens of these waivers have been granted including Andeavor, one of the country’s largest refiners, and CVR Energy, owned by billionaire Carl Icahn. On June 6th, farm and renewable fuel groups petitioned the EPA to account for an estimated loss of 1.5 billion gallons in ethanol volume. “These lost volumes are having a negative effect on the nation’s corn growers at a time when net farm income is project to hit its lowest point in 12 years,” said NCGA President Kevin Skunes.

Ethanol groups expressed relief, however, that they succeeded to convince the White House not to proceed with a proposal to allow RIN credits for exports on renewable fuel. (Source: American Coalition for Ethanol & Growth Energy)