Elsewhere in ag utilization

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.

Soy resin for composites
A two-year University of Delaware project developed and is testing soy oil-based resin for use in fiberglass-reinforced composites. Soy-based resins could replace petroleum resins, which comprise about 30 percent of fiberglass composites. Car parts, medical equipment, boats and farm machinery are some of the end products affected. Eighty million bushels of soybean could be used in this market each year.

Not just for paper anymore
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources and Crossroads Resource Conservation and Development Council are working to develop value-added markets for white pine lumber.

White pine is used to make lower-value products such as paper and compressed pallets. Some higher value markets include paneling, windows, door molding, furniture and wood novelty items. These new markets could increase the white pine’s value from about $7 per thousand board feet to $200.

Floating with soy foam
A University of Missouri-Columbia engineer has developed a soybean-based rigid polyurethane foam as an insulation component for chest coolers, soft drink machines and refrigerators. The light-yet-rigid properties of the foam also lend themselves to applications such as sporting equipment and flotation devices.

Mycogen controls edible vaccines
Mycogen Corp. has entered into license agreements with Washington University of St. Louis for exclusive commercial rights to technology that genetically alters plants to produce edible vaccines.

The goal is to provide oral vaccines for both humans and animals through locally produced foods, which should cost pennies a dose compared to the dollars per dose using current means. The technology also has potential application for immunizing animals from diseases that contaminate meat and strike humans.

Detroit opens E85 station
Michigan’s first E85 refueling station has opened in Detroit. The fuel, 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, is used to power flexible-fuel vehicles produced by Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler. The E85 project is supported by Ford, the Corn Marketing Program of Michigan and the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition. Ford plans to produce 250,000 flexible-fuel cars in 1999.

Sticking it to weeds
Dynaweed is a natural, corn-derived, pre-emergent broad-spectrum herbicide that attacks the feeder roots of germinating weeds or, for that matter, corn and vegetables.

Dynaweed is made from corn gluten left over after milling corn for syrup or starch. Although similar to the “distillers’ grain” byproduct used for livestock feed, Dynaweed requires further processing. “The material for animal feed is in a granular form. We’ve put (Dynaweed) into a pellet so you can spread it,” says Steve Nichols of Soil Technologies Corp., Fairfield, Iowa.

Corn gluten only attacks the feeder root development of germinating seeds. This gives it value as a herbicide for perennial crops such as asparagus, blueberries and strawberries. It also contributes nitrogen to the soil.

Purer soy oil adjuvant
Archer Petroleum is marketing a petroleum-free adjuvant that increases the cost efficiency of spraying herbicides. Unlike other crop-based adjuvants, “Soy Spray” is a high performance product of 98 percent methyl ester purity, derived from 100 percent virgin soy oil. Environmentally safe, Soy Spray promotes uniform herbicide application and improved coverage. It takes one bushel of soybeans to make 1.5 gallons of Soy Spray.

What’s your specialty, Mr. Bean?
DuPont Optimum Quality Grains is increasing contract production for several specialty soybeans. About 12,000 acres of a new high-sucrose soybean were planted this spring. The beans have a six percent sugar content compared to five percent in normal beans. More importantly, as sucrose in soybeans increases, an undesirable sugar called stachyose, which causes intestinal gas, drops off to about one percent compared to a typical five percent.

The company also contracted for acreage of a soybean that lacks the enzyme that produces the off-flavor of tofu beans. In addition, about 50,000 acres are planted to soybeans that produce oil with low saturated fats, being marketed under the name “LoSatSoy.” And about 50,000 acres of high oleic-acid soybeans have been planted; oleic acid holds up well in frying, a plus for fast food restaurants.

Source: DuPont Optimum Quality Grains

National Starch big on corn
National Starch and Chemical Co., the single largest processor of specialty corn hybrids in the world, is expanding its Indianapolis facility with a $50 million renovation. Farmers within a 50-mile radius of the plant are paid a premium to grow the waxy corn and amylose corn used by the company to make thousands of industrial starches and food starches.

Toning up
One of the most recent soybean uses is a toner for copiers and laser printers, now under development at the Institute of Paper Science and Technology in Atlanta, Ga. Soy-based toner should be easier to de-ink during the recycling process. The research project is sponsored by the Ohio Soybean Council.