Accelerating the Adoption of Soy Technology

Thanks to your checkoff, soy technology is no longer “out there” — it’s everywhere.

You may know the soy checkoff helps create new products that use the soybeans you grow, but there are many ways this work is done — from identifying and evaluating opportunities for soy inclusion to funding research and promoting soy technology at trade shows and online.

“We get pretty excited about what our beans can do and where they end up — particularly when it fills a market need and brings profit opportunities to farmers across the country,” said Gregg Fujan, soybean farmer from Weston, Nebraska, and former checkoff leader. “It’s the checkoff’s mission to innovate beyond the bushel. And we work hard to provide opportunities for innovation through building strategic partnerships, funding innovative research and more to drive demand and preference for U.S. soybeans.”

Over the years, the checkoff has formed many partnerships with both academia and industry that resulted in new products containing soy-based ingredients. One way the checkoff identifies these strategic opportunities is through expert technical consultants working on your behalf.

“For 25 years we’ve partnered with the checkoff to drive commercialization of soy-based industrial products,” said Rick Heggs, director of business development with OmniTech International, a consulting firm with wide-ranging technical expertise. “In the last year, more than 30 new commercial products have been introduced by companies that received checkoff funding, ranging from Goodyear’s Exhilarate high-performance tires to Rust-Oleum’s low-VOC wood stains.”

OmniTech is grateful for the trust the checkoff extended to foster the development of industrial products, Heggs added. “We look forward to ongoing collaboration and growth.”

The checkoff also puts your dollars to work by promoting soy-based technology to wider audiences. Through a campaign to promote soy research to industrial end users, the checkoff garnered significant interest from researchers, decision-makers and sustainability professionals. With data collected through that campaign, the checkoff identified nearly 1,000 potential customers that will be nurtured toward adoption of soy technology.

Through all this work, the checkoff is not only increasing utilization of soy ingredients but also creating compelling success stories. A checkoff-produced video designed to build broad awareness of soy’s many applications shares the common message from all these success stories: Be it soy tires, asphalt, shoes or mattresses, “ soy isn’t out there — it’s everywhere .”