This year marks the 10th anniversary of AURI programs. Over the past decade, “new uses” for agricultural commodities have begun to take root and change American markets. This issue highlights some of the agricultural innovations putting farmers back on their feet and helping to restore a renewable, ag-based economy.

Could we grow our own automobiles? Henry Ford, titan of the Model T, believed we could. In 1941, he built a sturdy car of soybean and vegetable plastics and filled the tank with corn ethanol. Even the tires were made from goldenrod grown by Thomas Edison.

Like other inventors and leaders of his day, Ford believed our rural economy would thrive if we developed more crop-based industrial products. However, plunging oil prices and better export markets for ag commodities after World War II set our nation on a completely different course — an economy driven by fossil-fuel energy and materials.

Four years ago, David Morris, head of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and author of The Carbohydrate Economy, addressed AURI’s annual meeting and reminded us of Ford’s dream. He spoke of the carbohydrate economy that fueled our country over a century ago and could yet be resurrected. Today, he says, we speak of industrial products made from corn, soybeans and other commodities as “new uses.” But in actuality, we are reconnecting with past achievements.

Morris points out that the first plastic, celluloid, was made from cotton and the first film, cellophane, from wood pulp. Ethanol was a leading industrial solvent in pre-Civil War times, and ethanol helped make the rubber in World War II military crafts. Today, ag products are again showing up in industrial products — fuel, packaging materials, printing inks, paints, solvents.

In 1996, the National Corn Growers Association initiated an effort by agricultural, forestry and chemical interests to write a visionary plan — “Plant/crop-based Renewable Resources 2020.” The plan calls for replacing 10 percent of fossil fuel-based materials, such as chemicals and petroleum fuel, with plant-based materials by 2020, and increasing that ratio to 50 percent by 2050.

AURI supports such efforts; we are here to accelerate new uses for agricultural products. With this special report, we are highlighting some of the inroads agricultural innovations are making into the American economy, and the part Minnesota farms and agribusinesses have to play. Almost every major commodity group in Minnesota is investing in product development research. And alternative commodities are adding extra value to farms by giving producers more income opportunities from their land.

By working together, AURI, commodity groups, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, University of Minnesota, ag organizations and agribusinesses expand value-added opportunities for Minnesota agriculture. Because an ag-based economy will keep Minnesota farm profits close to home and bring economic stability to farmers and city dwellers alike.