INVESTING CHECKOFF DOLLARS
SOYBEANS
ROAD HIT THE
NEW U S E PAV IN G THE WAY F OR I M PR OVE D SOY BE A N OI L DE M A N D BY LAUREN HOUSKA
B
eep beep — a new use for soybean oil is coming through! Iowa State University (ISU) researchers are closing in on the commercialization of a new product that could help increase demand for soybean oil — and soon. This bio-based polymer can replace the petroleum-based polymers currently used as the binding agent in asphalt. “Soybeans are highly dependent on international markets,” says Rolland Schnell, an Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) district director. “Any time we can use our product domestically, it gives farmers a little more certainty.”
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The Newton soybean farmer has served on ISA's board of directors for eight years. He was serving when ISA and the United Soybean Board each invested $125,000 in checkoff funds in bio-polymer research at ISU several years ago. To date, more than $13 million in private, state and federal funds have been leveraged to bring this technology to market. “Like the hard-fought growth of the biodiesel industry over the years, soybeans need a real boost from something right now,” Schnell says. “I can really see this new use
as being that next big, high-volume use to really give us that boost.” It’s more important than ever to make investments to improve demand for U.S. soybean oil, Schnell says, as excess supplies continue to dampen soybean prices. A biodiesel study shows a 12.9-cent increase in the price of soybean oil per pound, which equates to a 74-cent per bushel increase in soybean prices. It also equates to a $25-per-ton decrease in the cost of soybean meal, which is advantageous for Iowa’s livestock farmers, Schnell says.
