Marty Ross grows soybeans as well as other crops and poultry at his family farm near Delmar, Del. Read Marty's full bio.

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People around the globe are celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day this month. Thousands are expected to gather in Washington, D.C. on the National Mall. I’m proud that USB is helping by providing biodiesel to power the generators for the event.

Soybean farmers have year-round sustainability efforts described at http://www.usbthinkingahead.com/

USB is also sending representatives to talk about biobased products at environmental programs in April. You can find some of our team at the Department of the Interior’s Environmental Conference in Portland.

We will also be at biobased discussions in May at the General Services Administration’s Expo that draws thousands of federal employees.

Are you wondering how to find biobased products? The United Soybean Board just updated its searchable products catalog to help you.  Here’s the link.  A new federal biobased label is in the works that will make it easier for you as well.  The U.S. government agencies are finalizing a biobased label to go on biobased products.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed a draft label last year and the final label could be published in the next few weeks.

Did you see the new peer-reviewed life cycle profile that documents multiple energy and environmental benefits of U.S. soybean farming and processing? I think it is particularly exciting to see the numbers on how soybeans remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

The 3.36 billion bushels of soybeans in the United States in 2009 removed the carbon equivalent of taking 21 million cars off the road when the figures are computed using the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator. You can find more details on this website.

I’m about to head to the fields to plant some more soybeans this spring. USDA projects U.S. soybean farmers like me will be planting 77 million acres of those greenhouse-gas catching soybeans that simultaneously offer food for people, feed for livestock and biodiesel fuel.

It is amazing to consider how far the biobased industry has come in the last decade. In 2000, few people had heard of biobased products and even fewer companies made them. Now there are thousands of biobased products available from companies across the nation. And, government procurement programs are helping lead their use. The 2002 Farm Bill forged the legislation that calls on the Federal government to buy biobased. Furthermore, President Obama’s new Executive Order references biobased products as it sets sustainability goals for Federal agencies and focuses on making improvements in their environmental, energy and economic performance. Federal agencies have set goals under Executive Order 13514 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets; increase energy efficiency; reduce fleet petroleum consumption; conserve water; reduce waste; support sustainable communities; and leverage Federal purchasing power to promote environmentally-responsible products and technologies. Glad there are lots of biobased products available to help meet those goals. U.S. farmers like me planted more than 77 million acres of soybeans last year. We are eager to get back into the fields this spring to grow the abundant supply of soybeans to simultaneously produce food for humans, feed for livestock and ingredients for biobased products.

It is amazing to consider how far the biobased industry has come in the last decade. In 2000, few people had heard of biobased products and even fewer companies made them. Now there are thousands of biobased products available from companies across the nation. And, government procurement programs are helping lead their use. The 2002 Farm Bill forged the legislation that calls on the Federal government to buy biobased. Furthermore, President Obama’s new Executive Order references biobased products as it sets sustainability goals for Federal agencies and focuses on making improvements in their environmental, energy and economic performance. Federal agencies have set goals under Executive Order 13514 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets; increase energy efficiency; reduce fleet petroleum consumption; conserve water; reduce waste; support sustainable communities; and leverage Federal purchasing power to promote environmentally-responsible products and technologies. Glad there are lots of biobased products available to help meet those goals. U.S. farmers like me planted more than 77 million acres of soybeans last year. We are eager to get back into the fields this spring to grow the abundant supply of soybeans to simultaneously produce food for humans, feed for livestock and ingredients for biobased products.

Welcome! I am delighted to introduce the United Soybean Board’s updated and expanded www.soybiobased.org website. We hope you will come back to this site many times as we plan to continually update it with new case studies on how biobased products are working for real people like you along with information about government programs that call for the use of biobased products. You can also come to our site to get the latest news about the sustainability of soybeans that farmers like me grow as well as the efforts of biobased manufacturers to offer even more environmental benefits. And of course, let us know what’s on your mind about biobased products. We look forward to hearing from you.