Elsewhere in ag utilization

By Joan Olson
Illustration by Uncle Hyggly

Editor’s note: As a service to our readers, we provide news about the work of others in the ag utilization arena. Often, research done elsewhere complements AURI’s work.

Enrich milk with ... milk?

Conjugated linoleic acid, CLA for short, is a naturally occurring fatty acid in milk. Shown to be the most powerful natural anticancer fatty acid in the diet, scientists are looking for ways to enrich milk with more CLA. They’re investigating adding CLA during processing as well as ways of enhancing cows’ synthesis of CLA.

Source: Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, (330) 263-3700,
ct-oardc@osu.edu. Ask for #335.

Berry good balance

Aging rats significantly improved on balance and coordination tests after eating blueberry extract for eight weeks. The extract also improved the animals’ short-term memory, as did strawberry and spinach extracts. These foods are high in antioxidants and can subdue free radicals that damage DNA and cell membranes. The findings hold hope for combating some of the dysfunction and diseases of aging.

Source: USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts, Boston, MA, James A. Joseph (617) 556-3178, joseph_ne@hnrc.tufts.edu or Barbara Shukitt-Hale, (617) 556-3188, hale_ne@hnrc.tufts.edu.

How to build a farm enterprise

The University of Minnesota has published a guide to help farmers make decisions about why and how to market their own products.

“Farming Alternatives: A Guide to Evaluating the Feasibility of New Farm-Based Enterprises” covers the steps of personal and family considerations, identifying alternatives, marketing, production profitability, financial feasibility and decision making.

The 88-page guide includes worksheets and sources for additional information, references and recommended reading. Order your copy ($8 plus tax) from Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, (612) 625-9733.

Hoist a bean brew

Last summer, Court Avenue Brewing Co., a microbrewery in Des Moines, Iowa, made its first beer batch using Tri-Nul, a special soybean variety. Soybean meal made up about 15 percent of the soy brew’s ingredients.

The Iowa Ag Products Association predicts soy beer could drink up 40,000 acres of the state’s soybeans. The group also expects to develop an export market, as brewers in Europe and Japan have expressed interest in the new soy product.

Source: Soybean Digest, January 2000

Styrofoam troubles melt away

Researchers at the University of Missouri-Rolla recently discovered a way to re-use scrap Styrofoam. Under proper conditions, modified soybean oil is a strong solvent for polystyrene, dissolving more than 80 percent of it by weight. The dissolved Styrofoam can be used as a raw material for fiber-reinforced composites.

Source: Soybean Digest, January 2000

Pushers of polylactide

Cargill, Inc. and Dow Chemical Co. are launching full-scale commercial production of a “natural plastic” made from corn or wheat instead of petroleum. Their 50-50 joint venture, Cargill Dow Polymers, is committed to spend $300 million on the business, branded “NatureWorks,” over the next two years. The investment includes construction of a manufacturing plant in Blair, Neb. that will produce 300 million pounds a year of the plastic, called polylactide or PLA.

The new plant should begin producing PLA from corn by the end of 2001. Within 10 years, the company hopes to be producing a billion pounds a year from four plants around the world.

Source: www.cdpoly.com

Soy on the school menu

Concerned about fat in kids’ meals, federal officials want to let schools and daycare centers serve tofu, veggie burgers and other soy products as meat substitutes in federally subsidized lunches.

Under current Agriculture Department rules, soy can only be a food additive in amounts of less than 30 percent. Although dropping this restriction would allow schools to offer meatless entrees such as tofu-stuffed ravioli, nutritionists say schools are more likely to use it to increase the amount of soy that they blend into their standard fare: burgers, tacos and the like.

Source: United Soybean Board, www.unitedsoybean.org

Companies gobble up soy

Last October, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowed heart-healthy claims on soy-based food labels. Since then, soy products have become an increasingly hot commodity for U.S. processors. For example, Kraft Foods is purchasing the soy burger company, Boca Burger.

 In another move, DuPont’s Protein Technologies International and General Mills, Inc. announced a collaboration to develop and market soy foods. The FDA’s health claim came in response to a petition originally filed by DuPont’s PTI in May 1998.

A recent checkoff-funded study shows the use of soy in foods is expected to accelerate 10 percent per year for the next five years. According to the American Soybean Association, if every American with high cholesterol ate the minimum recommended soy protein, the increased demand would raise soybean prices by 33 cents a bushel.

Sources: www.kraftfoods.com, www.dupont.com

Who drinks it after the calcium’s gone?

A Minnesota-based independent dairy cooperative will be one of only two U.S. plants extracting natural dairy calcium from milk. Nutraceutical companies and food manufacturers will add dairy calcium to drinks, food entrees and mineral supplements.

First District Association of Litchfield, Minn. has invested $2 million in the calcium extraction process. The cooperative will also extract and sell lactose (milk sugar).

Source: The Land, January 21, 2000.

Flax-ible marketing

Flax grower Rick Heintzman of Onaka, S.D. has garnered a 50- to 100-fold increase in the market price he receives for a bushel of flax. His direct marketing promotes the high concentration of omega-3 alpha linoleic acid in flax. Research suggests this essential fatty acid helps reduce cholesterol, fight cancer and control blood glucose levels.

Heintzman began marketing his Dakota Flax Gold with two at-home cholesterol testing kits for before and after testing. In addition to bags of flaxseed, he sells single-serving packages, flaxseed capsules, a nutrition bar and a small electric grinder so consumers can grind flaxseed at home.

Source: Cooperative Partners, January 2000, Cenex Harvest States, (651) 451-4322.