Ford Motor Company is working with the United Soybean Board to help research, develop and implement soybean-based materials into their products to take the place of petroleum-based materials and improve the sustainability footprint of their operations. At the recent USB Biobased Products Stakeholders Workshop in Dearborn, Michigan, Deb Mielewski, Technical Leader of Plastics Research at Ford, talked about the development …
Soybeans Used for Tractors Now… and Back Then
Attendees at the USB Biobased Products Stakeholders Workshop this week in Dearborn, Michigan got a chance to step back in history. Antique Ford tractor collector Dave Schafer showed off his pair of 1939 Ford 9Ns, one that was given to his father by Henry Ford himself! “My father worked for Henry Ford as a tractor demonstrator,” Schafer explains. “The day …
Soybean Farmer Leaders Excited About New Uses
The U.S. soybean crop may be struggling this summer, but the farmers who grow it know there will still be plenty to go around and they are excited about the newest biobased soy products in the pipelines for the domestic market. Left to right here are Dale Profit and Jim Stillman – both from Iowa, Karen Fear of Indiana, and …
Senator and Secretary Attend Biobased Workshop
Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack were keynote speakers at the 2012 United Soybean Board Biobased Products Stakeholders’ Workshop at the Ford Research and Innovation Center in Dearborn, Michigan this week to show their strong support for new products made from agricultural commodities. “I think the sky’s the limit,” said Sen. Stabenow. “I don’t believe you have …
Sending Animal Agriculture Offshore Would Increase Food Costs
Leading off a press conference during Commodity Classic for the United Soybean Board was Vanessa Kummer, Chair. The topic was Consumer and Food Safety Costs of Offshoring Animal Agriculture (pdf). This is a Soybean Checkoff funded study. Also pictured on stage are Lewis Bainbridge, USB Director (seated) and André Williamson, Agralytica, (standing) the company that conducted the study. Paying more …
Osborn Barr Honors John Becherer
The United Soybean Board’s CEO, John Becherer, got a little bit of love from everyone attending the Osborn Barr reception at Commodity Classic. John is receiving this year’s National Agri-Marketing Association Agribusiness Leader of the Year Award which will be officially presented to him during next month’s Agri-Marketing Conference in Kansas City. However, Osborn Barr which has worked with USB …
Biodiesel Adds Value to Minnesota Soybeans
The Renewable Energy Group (REG) celebrated the official grand opening of REG Albert Lea biodiesel plant in Minnesota on Monday, with representatives of the state and local community and agriculture industry. REG President and COO Dan Oh (right) says the plant was shut down in 2008 when economic woes hit the biodiesel industry, but REG felt it was a significant …
New Ideas for Promoting Soybean Exports
The final session of the US Soybean Export Council Animal Utilization Stakeholders meeting in Seattle this past weekend focused on a discussion of new ideas to promote soybean exports in the future. As chairman of the United Soybean Board International Marketing Committee, Jim Call of Minnesota split his time between the animal utilization and the human utilization meetings. “I think …
Novus International Shares Vision with US Soybean Growers
The vision of Novus International is “To help feed the world affordable, wholesome food and achieve a higher quality of life.” That is a vision this global animal nutrition company shares with the U.S. soybean industry, with exports around the world accounting for more than half of annual production. “A lot of commonality in that and a lot of opportunity …
What Soybean Stakeholders are Learning at USSEC Meeting
The weather is fabulous in Seattle this weekend, but directors of the United Soybean Board (USB) are inside and hard at work learning more about opportunities for exports at the US Soybean Export Council Animal Utilization Stakeholders meeting. As far as stakeholders are concerned, USB is one of the major ones represented here, since soybean checkoff dollars are used to …