Soybean Partnerships Drive Demand On and Off the Field

The 2023 Commodity Classic is in the books. At the Team Soy booth, the checkoff highlighted several key partnerships that help bring value back to U.S. soybean farmers.

Because of farmer investments, checkoff-supported research leads to the commercialization of dozens of new soy-based products every year. U.S. Soy is recognized as the sustainable ingredient of choice for a growing list of biobased product manufacturers. U.S. Soy is helping companies lower their environmental footprint and deliver sustainable products that meet consumer preferences. USB is proud of the partnerships that advance the use of soy. Three of these examples are included below.

The Goodyear^® Commitment to Sustainable Soybean Oil

The multiyear partnership between the checkoff and Goodyear led to Goodyear’s sustainable soybean oil procurement policy that will increase the use of oil from U.S. soybeans. Goodyear’s goal is to replace petroleum oil in all products by 2040, and the company has increased its soybean oil use by 90% in 2019, 73% in 2020 and 13% in 2021.

Not only is soybean oil helping Goodyear reach its sustainability goals, but soy-based tires demonstrate other clear benefits, including:

• Reduced use of petroleum-based oil.
• Increased manufacturing efficiencies.
• Reduced energy consumption and increased use of surplus biobased, renewable material.
• Improved tire flexibility at low temperatures, which helps rubber remain pliable in cold weather and enhances traction in rain and snow.

SYNLawn^® Soy-Based Turf

The checkoff also partnered with SYNLawn to help create soy-based turf for customers in diverse locations across the country. SYNLawn has installed 82 million square feet of U.S. Soy-backed artificial grass across 200,000 installations in the U.S. and 19 other countries since 2008. This turf was on display in the Team Soy booth and surrounding aisles at Commodity Classic, allowing farmers and show attendees to experience the product in person.

SYNLawn can be found in a variety of places, from New York City parks to the Vegas Strip. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida, recently installed the soy-based turf in the rocket launch viewing area.

PureBond^® Soy Adhesives
The soy checkoff and PureBond worked together to research soy adhesives in hardwood. The partnership led to the development of soy adhesives in hardwood plywood to make them safer than regular plywood that uses adhesives with formaldehyde.

PureBond plywood with soy adhesives are cost-competitive with the standard urea-formaldehyde construction of most domestic decorative veneer-core hardwood plywood made today. U.S. Soy has been used in 150 million panels of PureBond plywood since 2005. If laid end to end, those panels would reach the moon! Each panel contains approximately 2.3 pounds of soy flour. This type of plywood can be found at national distributors, including The Home Depot.

The soy checkoff is committed to continue forming, and growing, partnerships to assist companies interested in finding sustainable answers that include soy.