Exhibit
31.1

CERTIFICATION

I, David H.
Roche, certify that:

1. I have
reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative (the
Registrant);

2. Based on my
knowledge, this annual report does not contain any untrue statement of a material
fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in
light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not
misleading with respect to the period covered by this annual report;

3. Based on my
knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included
in this annual report, fairly present in all material respects the financial
condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Registrant as of, and
for, the periods presented in this annual report;

4. The
Registrants other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for establishing
and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act
Rules 13a-15(e) and Rule 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial
reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the
Registrant and have:

a) designed
such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and
procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information
relating to the Registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made
known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in
which this report is being prepared;

b) designed
such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control
over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide
reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the
preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles;

c) evaluated
the effectiveness of the Registrants disclosure controls and procedures and
presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the
disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this
report based on such evaluation; and

d) disclosed
in this report any change in the Registrants internal control over financial
reporting that occurred during the Registrants most recent fiscal quarter
(fourth fiscal quarter) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely
to materially affect, the Registrants internal control over financial
reporting.

5. The
Registrants other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on our
most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the
Registrants auditors and the audit committee of the Registrants board of
directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

a) all
significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of
internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to
adversely affect the Registrants ability to record, process, summarize and
report financial information; and

b) any fraud,
whether or not material, that involves Management or other employees who have a
significant role in the Registrants internal control over financial reporting.

|      |                  |  |                                        | 
|----- | ---------------- |  | -------------------------------------- | 
|Date: | November 1, 2011 |  | /s/ David H. Roche                     | 
|      |                  |  | President
 and Chief Executive Officer

98

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