By RICK A. RICHARDS
Indiana Correspondent

MONTPELIER, Ind. — The USDA’s announcement last week that it had approved a voluntary biobased product labeling program for soybeans has been greeted enthusiastically by growers.

Jim Schriver, who farms 1,750 acres of soybeans and corn in Wells and Blackford counties, not far from the small east-central Indiana town of Montpelier, is thrilled about the program. In the 50 years he has been involved in growing soybeans, Schriver said this is one of the biggest announcements he can recall.

“We’re hoping this labeling effort will help show the credence of the checkoff program and how the products have been discovered and put in place through the money from the checkoff program,” said Schriver.

“The oil part of the soybean used to be a drag on the market, but through a lot of research and development, the oil is now the number-one product. It’s been like a dream come true. What we can do with the bean now is unimaginable.”
Alan Kemper, president of the American Soybean Assoc. (ASA), said, “This new label will help consumers identify biobased products made from renewable resources, and will promote the increased sale and use of these products, including many soy-based products, in the commercial market. It is in the best interest of both consumers and soybean farmers that USDA continues to promote the use of biobased products through the labeling program and expansion of the BioPreferred procurement program.”

Kemper, a soybean farmer from Lafayette, Ind., said the federal biobased products preferred procurement program was part of both the 2002 and 2008 farm bills as a way to boost research into new uses for soybeans.

At the same time, the United Soybean Board (USB), which has the responsibility of handling checkoff dollars that go into research and development, described the USDA announcement as “a significant step toward increasing awareness of the economic, energy security and environmental benefits of biobased products, including soy-based products.”

Schriver, chair of the USB’s Domestic Marketing committee, said, “The USDA label is going to make it easier for everyone from federal, state and county governments, to consumers, to find products that use U.S. soy to green their chemistry.”

He explained the labeling program came about because farmers wanted the public to know about their effort at sustainability.

“We have a lot of uses that can come out of meal and oil side of the bean. That’s what started to drive this. As far as soybean users, it’s an increased awareness of biobased products, and awareness is key,” said Schriver.
Besides traditional uses for soybeans as animal feed and cooking oil, new uses for soy oil and its component ingredients are being discovered. For instance, Schriver said Ford Motor Co. has become one of the nation’s leaders in using biobased products. The automaker is using ingredients from soy oil to make foam for its seats.

He explained the soy industry has doubled in the last couple of years and admits that kind of growth isn’t sustainable.

Still, that rapid growth has shown all kinds of research is taking place with soybeans, giving producers more options in marketing their soybean crop. Through USB efforts, for instance, 32 new biobased products were introduced in 2010, ranging from concrete sealants to foam insulation for homes, to color brighteners in paint.

Bob Worth, ASA vice president, grows soybeans on 700 acres near Lake Benton, Minn., in the southwestern corner of the state.

“I think from the producer side, this is important because people say farmers are not environmentally concerned. That’s not true. We’re very much environmentally concerned,” he said. “When we can raise a product that’s very green, that’s a good thing.

“On the consumer side, they’re talking more and more about the environment and when they realize all the products that can come from the soybean, they’re going to be well pleased with that. The biobased label is very noticeable.”

Worth, who has raised soybeans since 1973, is amazed at the changes in the uses of the crop. “It used to be used strictly as animal feed – soybean meal. Oil was a byproduct and nobody knew what to do with it. Now the oil is being used in a variety of products.”

As research continues into new uses for soybeans, he isn’t worried about farmers making a major shift from growing corn to raising soybeans. “Most farmers are going to stay with the rotation they have. It’s too expensive to raise corn on corn, and it’s good to have the mix,” said Worth.

Schriver agrees. “Most of the fellows in Midwest have learned there are advantages of 50-50 rotation. Frankly, I think there is more of a concern for me and for our industry in getting farmers to buy into the quality issue of the beans.

“We have a mindset on yield and not net dollars based on quality. Right now, we’re producing a lower quality of bean than we had 10 years ago. We need to address this because we’re in a world market. A lot of my farmer partners don’t make that connection that we’re selling component parts.”

In the end, though, Schriver is proud to be a part of an industry that’s environmentally friendly. “There is no other industry in the United States that has the sustainability footprint that agriculture has,” he said.

Worth echoed that sentiment: “What we’re doing with our labeling effort shows environmentalists we’re doing everything we can to be environmentally friendly. We live on the land and we want to protect this land.”