There was a time, in the not too distant past, when agriculture could not buy it’s way on to the front page of a newspaper or newscast. Now agriculture is a regular topic of top news stories and editorials. Unfortunately, the majority of this coverage is negative rather than positive. High food prices, environmental damage, obesity, government waste, and even world hunger are being laid at the feet of farmers. While most of these accusations are untrue and based on misinformation or faulty science, nevertheless many of the problems of today are being, in some way, tied to agriculture. Do we have an answer? You bet, and it is the same answer farmers and agribusinesses have used for the past century to solve some mighty monumental challenges. The one thing that will meet the challenges of the present and the future is the same thing we have used to solve the problems of the past
innovation.

$6 corn and $14 soybeans are things many of us have not experienced before, but volatile commodity prices are not new. Sharp spikes in food prices are not new, even higher gasoline prices are not new. They have all happened before, and each time innovation in technology or production has helped solve the problem.  History has shown us that one thing that does not help solve our problems is government intervention. Knee-jerk reactions by politicians often exacerbate the problem and delay its solution.
For example, during the last energy crisis, the government instituted price controls which led to gas shortages and actually made things worse. If President Carter had provided the kind of incentives for renewable energy we have today, we would all be driving around in cellulosic ethanol cars and paying much less for fuel.

The food, fuel, and environmental problems we face today will be solved by innovation in the near future if we keep government out of the role of problem-fixer and in its proper role as facilitator of solutions.

The reason I believe this is because I recently saw innovation at work solving some of the very problems that are making headlines. This innovation was not being done by government-funded researchers, but by college students with funding from farmer-directed checkoff programs.

The Soybean Product Innovation Competition, sponsored by the Indiana Soybean Alliance, at Purdue University provides financial incentives for student researchers to develop new products using soy.

Over the past 13 years, this competition has produced such things as soybean candles, soy-crayons, and a variety of products made from soy. This year’s competition produced something new, however: products that not only used soy, but provided a solution to our energy, environmental, and nutritional challenges.

One of the top prize winners was a biodegradable “clay pigeon”. Called the Eco Disc, this target made from soybean meal is totally biodegradable. With several billion of these targets used each year at shooting ranges, the traditional clay pigeon, which takes over 400 years to degrade, represents a serious environmental hazard. Eco Disc is a simple and effective way to improve our environment.
Other innovative products included a soy waffle cone called Scoops! that is more nutritious than wheat-based waffle cones and is heart healthy. A product that will help our energy situation takes the waste from coal power plants and the waste from soy-biodiesel plants and creates a new energy source. Gly Coal Solutions combines coal ash and crude glycerin to form a brickette that can be burned in boilers to produce electricity.

While these are not breakthroughs that will change the world, they are part of the innovation process that slowly but surely will address some of our most pressing problems.

This year we will hear candidates promising us all kinds of quick fixes. The truth is that there is not a quick fix to some of the food, energy, and environmental issues we now face, but there is a solution and one that is at work right now. Innovation will make our goods cheaper, safer and better for us. Innovation will provide us the means to produce enough raw materials for both food and fuel.
Innovation will help us protect our environment and repair the damage from mistakes of the past. Innovation will provide our world with new energy alternatives. Innovation can accomplish all this if the U.S. Government, the United Nations, and Al Gore and his friends stay out of the way.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Gary Truitt may write to him in care of this publication.

This farm news was published in the April 23, 2008 issue of the Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.