The Senate Committee on Finance held a hearing Wednesday on “Trade Enforcement: Using Trade Rules to Level the Playing Field for U.S. Companies and Workers” addressing concerns that as new trade agreements are being considered those that are already in place are not being adequately enforced. “Without strong enforcement, no trade deal – old or new – is able to …
USDA Biopreferred Program Grows Biobased Market
The purpose of the USDA BioPreferred® program is to promote the increased purchase and use of biobased products, so program manager Ron Buckhalt was a popular guy at last week’s United Soybean Board Biobased Products Stakeholders Dialogue. “The biopreferred program was created by Congress to help grow the market for biobased products,” said Buckhalt. “The idea being we can use …
Columbia Forest Products Stick with Soy
North Carolina-based Columbia Forest Products was ahead of the curve a decade ago when it moved to formaldehyde-free hardwood plywood technology. “We make flat, decorative panels with a highly-prized face like a cherry, oak, walnut,” explains marketing director Todd Vogelsinger. “And we glue it all together with a resin system that is 95% soy flour.” The company replaced the commonly …
USDA’s Big Biobased Picture
The U.S. Department of Agriculture takes a wide angle view of the biobased product picture which encompasses several different segments within the agency. At the USB Biobased Stakeholders Dialogue last week in Washington D.C. we heard from a number of USDA officials about what they are doing to expand biobased opportunities. One panel featured Rural Business Cooperative Service administrator Lilian …
Millennial Views of Biobased and Sustainability
The hostess for the the USB Biobased Products Stakeholders’ Dialogue at George Washington (GW) University this week was the moderator for an important discussion about what the “millennial generation” thinks about biobased and sustainability. University sustainability director Kathleen Merrigan, who is also former deputy ag secretary, invited some current students and recent graduates to be on the panel. “What I …
Elevance Exemplifies Biobased Product Diversity
One of the many biobased product companies represented at the USB Biobased Products Stakeholders’ Dialogue this week was Elevance Renewable Sciences, which produces a wide array of materials from renewable oils like soybeans. “We make products targeted at three broad market industries,” says Andy Shafer, EVP for sales and marketing. “The consumer and industrial space where we make ingredients for …
Soy Biobased About Customer Focus
The United Soybean Board is focused on the customers who use soy products – whether feed or food, fuel or new products – and that is what the USB Biobased Products Stakeholders’ Dialogue in Washington DC this week is all about. “Everything’s about the customer,” said USB director John Motter of Ohio, who is chairman of the checkoff group’s Customer …
Past and Present USDA Deputies at USB Event
The current and former Deputy Secretaries of Agriculture were together on Tuesday in Washington DC at the United Soybean Board Biobased Products Stakeholders Dialogue. It is being held at George Washington University where Kathleen Merrigan now serves as Director of Sustainability and she was pleased to host her successor Krysta Harden as keynote speaker at the event. Both Harden and …
Marrone Bio Innovations Introduces New Biofungicide
Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc., a leading global provider of bio-based pest management and plant health products formally introduces REGALIA® Rx, an advanced, broad-spectrum biofungicide that improves plant health and increases yield potential. REGALIA® Rx is registered for use in corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, and other row crops. Adding just one pint of REGALIA Rx to an existing fungicide program improved …
Farmer Joins Biodiesel Producers, Senators on Hill
Biodiesel producers and farmers who raise the feedstocks for the biodiesel industry took to Capitol Hill this week, joining a group of U.S. Senate Democrats in their calls to end policy uncertainty that is hurting their industry. Terry Goerger, a soybean grower from North Dakota, expressed his concerns, especially how many farmers made plans believing Congress and the Obama Administration …