New uses for soybeans continue to grow

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New uses for soybeans continue to grow

The use for soy-based products continues to expand with more than 1,000 products currently on the market.

Steve Reinhard is a United Soybean Board Director and a farmer from Bucyrus, Ohio.

“Our biggest market is still our livestock feed and what we do for our animals and that’s continuing to be a research project that we look at to make sure we maintain the correct amino acid content in our protein to help get those animals to market as soon as we can,” he says. “But we’re also looking at some other new uses for oil—biodiesel has been a great product and we’ve been able to look at greenhouse gas emission reductions. We also have a project with Goodyear. The tire and rubber company is looking to replace petroleum in their tires by 2040 and they’ve signed a sustainable soy procurement program and that is going to be good because we know in the United States we have a sustainable product in our soybeans.”

He says PoreShield, a concrete durability enhancer, is another example.

“PoreShield is a product that will help extend the life of the concrete. It basically puts a soybean product in those joints and cracks and helps to keep the salt and deterioration down,” he says. “PoreShield uses about 400 bushels of soybeans for every two-lane mile.”

The 78 USB farmer leaders approved a $78 million investment in 181 checkoff-funded projects during USB’s summer board meeting in Missouri.

“We go through the process of investing the checkoff dollars and making sure we get the best return on investment for the farmers that pay into that checkoff,” he says. “…Hopefully we’ll see some great things continue to come out of those investments and we’ve got some really neat things that have come out in the last few years that have gotten traction.”

Speaking to Brownfield during the 2021 Farm Progress Show, Reinhard says new uses help put money back in the pockets of soybean growers. Every dollar invested in soy checkoff returns more than $12 in added value to the product.

Audio: Steve Reinhard

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