Kenlon Johannes, CEO of the Kansas Soybean Association and administrator of the Kansas Soybean Commission, is the 2020 recipient of the Pinnacle Award, the highest honor bestowed by the American Soybean Association.

Johannes was recognized at the awards banquet of the ASA during the Commodity Classic in San Antonio on Feb. 28 and presented with the award, which is an industry-wide recognition of individuals who have demonstrated the highest level of contribution and leadership during a lifetime of work.

Johannes has devoted almost 40 years of his life to working to promote the soybean industry and soy-based value-added products, including biodiesel. He spent his first years after college graduation teaching elementary school but returned to his family’s farm in Nebraska in the mid-1970s when he joined ASA and was appointed to the Nebraska Soybean Board.

Before coming to Kansas, Johannes served as the top executive for soybean associations in Wisconsin and Missouri.

Concerns about the surplus of soybean oil led Johannes, along with other farmer leaders and university researchers, to identify and promote new uses for the versatile oil, which in turn led to the development of biodiesel fuel.

In 1992, Johannes became the first executive director of the newly formed SoyDiesel Development Board, which later became the National Biodiesel Board.

“Around here, we call him the godfather of biodiesel,” says Amanda Manville, director of communications for the Kansas Soybean Association.

He has been an active educational leader in promoting biodiesel and other soybean oil products, including soy-based foam, soy-based adhesives and coatings and other products.

Source: Kansas Soybean Association, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.