The nation’s largest outdoor farm show, the Farm Progress Show, will showcase new sustainable technology at the Varied Industries Tent this year. A new asphalt pad, created using soy asphalt technology, will stretch from West Avenue to Central Avenue, covering nearly 43,600 square feet. The paving project, sponsored by the Illinois Soybean Association, involves 100% recycled asphalt pavement mixed with a soy-based polymer.

“The Illinois Soybean Association is proud to take part in incorporating soy-based products at this year’s Farm Progress Show,” says Scott Gaffner, Greenville, Ill. farmer and ISA market development committee chair. “Utilizing soy over petroleum-based products is not only better for our environment, but it also increases the overall demand for Illinois soybeans.”

The increasing demand for soybean oil comes from new soy uses and technology, which has improved products from plastics and rubber to adhesives, paper and more. For example, by incorporating soy into the asphalt, the product becomes more durable – lengthening its lifetime.

“We’re creating an enhanced experience for visitors attending the show by upgrading the VIT area with this asphalt,” says Matt Jungmann, Farm Progress National Events Director. “Farmers and exhibitors will find this new surface creates a better environment for the show.”

Iowa State University began the research on soy asphalt, formulated with high-oleic soybean oil, to replace expensive, highly volatile compounds used as a binder in asphalt. The material used in the soy asphalt project is a cold-in-place technology. It will use 100% recycled asphalt pavement mixed with the soybean-based product. The soy-based asphalt project will use 4,200 pounds of soybean oil. Each bushel of soybeans yields about 10.7 pounds of oil, meaning oil derived from up to 392 bushels of soybeans was used in the project.

To learn more about new uses for soy, visit ilsoy.orghttps://www.ilsoy.org. To register for the 2023 Farm Progress Show, visit farmprogressshow.com.