Plant-based resources build Iowa's bioeconomy

Iowa State University and ISU Extension’s network of research centers, organizational leadership and outreach services places them at the center of Iowa’s growing bioeconomy initiatives, according to the 2004 Batelle Report. The Iowa Department of Economic Development commissioned the study of Iowa’s economic competencies and opportunities.

It found that ISU has a structure in place for moving bioeconomy research from laboratory to marketplace. But what exactly is Iowa’s bioeconomy, and how does it grow?

Additional uses for processed soybeans
One slice of Iowa’s bioeconomy is illustrated by West Central Cooperative in Ralston, where 8 to 9 million bushels of locally grown soybeans are processed annually into soybean oil and soy meal. The processing facility was built in the 1940s to make meal used for dairy feed; soy oil was a byproduct. In the mid-1990s, West Central expanded its facility to produce methyl esters (biodiesel) from the oil.

“The amount of oil that we produce is determined by the amount of meal that we need,” said John Mostek, West Central chemical engineer. “If we can find alternative uses for the meal, we can continue to expand our business, and buy more soybeans and make more biodiesel.”

Today, ISU researchers at the Center for Crops Utilization Research are working with West Central to develop the process necessary for converting the meal into an acceptable additive for wood product adhesives.

“When we have it tested to our satisfaction, we’ll add infrastructure and begin processing the flour into a liquid product that is a wood adhesives ingredient,” Mostek said.

Wide interest in natural fibers
Bill Kackley, operations manager at HNI Corporation (formerly HON Industries) in Muscatine, is involved in several levels of the bioeconomy. New material innovation is a priority, and HNI is actively involved in research to determine if current materials can be replaced with natural fibers — ideally, Iowa grown natural fibers.

“HNI’s goal is to identify and use biobased materials without adding costs to our products,” Kackley said. “We want to develop a natural fiber mat that comes from locally grown crops. We live in a state that has 25 percent of the world’s richest soil; we are looking for ways to help producers leverage that resource.”

To reach that goal, Kackley has a biomass team leadership role in AMRCC (Advanced Manufacturing Research Collaboration Cluster), a partnership representing producer and entrepreneurial groups and businesses that are transitioning to natural fiber composite mats. The team includes companies like John Deere, Vermeer, Green Products and Natural Home Building Systems. The goal of AMRCC is to make Iowa the leader in engineering and advanced manufacturing.

“Through these groups, Iowa businesses and the regent universities bring together resources that can put Iowa’s biobased economy into action,” Kackley said. “Collectively we are looking for ways to be different in our materials and products; ways to place Iowa ahead of others and become the state leading the bioeconomy.”

Extension connects resources to needs
Extension has connected Iowans and businesses willing to take bioeconomy leadership roles to industry and funding resources that can respond to their research and expertise needs. BIOWA, a nonprofit organization promoting the growth and development of Iowa’s bioeconomy in partnership with ISU Extension, is recognized as the organization leading the bioeconomy platform, according to Jill Euken, BIOWA executive director and ISU Extension biobased industrial specialist.

“We must continue to move quickly, building relationships and partnerships between regents institutions and biobased businesses,” Euken said. “That will determine whether Iowa does indeed dominate in the commercialization of the bioeconomy.”

West Central Cooperative “transforms” soybeans into adhesive and then finished wood products. (Photo collage created by Chris Cornelius, West Central Cooperative.)

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Spring 2005 homepage

The Extension Connection is a quarterly publication of Iowa State University Extension.

Laura Sternweis, editor, lsternwe@iastate.edu

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Last update:April 2005

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