INVESTING CHECKOFF DOLLARS
POD TO PAVEMENT C H E C KO F F I N V E ST M E N TS F U R T H E R S OY- B AS E D P O LY M E R R E S E A R C H A N D T E ST I N G BY BETHANY BARATTA
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esearchers at Iowa State University (ISU) spent about eight years researching how soybean oil could replace petroleum as a binding agent in creating asphalt. Now, thanks to years of research and investments from the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) and the United Soybean Board (USB), the product is a part of highways and parking lots in Iowa and in other states. With additional demonstration projects in queue, the pod-to-pavement project could be spread even wider. “A two-lane highway would use about 70 bushels of soybeans per mile if it all works out,” says ISA District 2 Director Casey Schlichting of Clear Lake. The product is part of demonstration projects after years
of research at ISU’s Bio-Polymer Processing Facility at the BioCentury Research Farm. To go from very small quantities in tiny, half-liter bottles to 12, 50-gallon drums and eventually tanker trucks that deliver the product to be used in highway projects, is a good feeling, say Austin Hohmann and Paul Ledtje. They oversee the bio-based polymer processing facility and asphalt lab. Their team helped formulate the right mix of polymers to make the product just right — not too thin, not too thick.
Investments pay off Rolland Schnell was serving on the ISA board of directors when ISA and USB each pledged $125,000 for bio-
based polymer research at ISU. Now, more than $13 million in private, state and federal funds have been leveraged to bring bio-based polymers to market. The investments seem to be paying off, says Schnell, who farms near Newton. “It has the potential of using a significant amount of soybean oil. If we can further utilize soybean oil here at home, it’s not only good for us as farmers, but also for livestock farmers as it lessens the price of soybean meal,” Schnell says. Bio-based polymer is a good alternative to petroleum-based products, says Chris Williams, director of the Asphalt Materials and Pavements Program at ISU.
Workers pave a Polk County road with a soybean-based asphalt.
22 | NOVEMBER 2019 | IASOYBEANS.COM
