Executive Director Glynn in BioND booth at the Northern Corn & Soybean Expo

More than 600 participants from across the state braved snowy conditions to take part in the second annual Northern Corn & Soybean Expo held in the Fargo Dome on February 12, 2019. They were there to get the latest updates on important topics like trade, weed management and farm stress. And there to greet them was Executive Director Richard Glynn in a booth among more than 80 exhibitors to inform them of the importance of the Biotechnology Association’s role in the life of these corn and soybean producers.

Director Glynn was interviewed by Ag Week Radio on the Exhibit Floor on the value added uses of Corn and Soybean in the BioTech Industry. Glynn emphasized the role of ethanol in the United States creating jobs in rural areas where employment opportunities are needed. That ethanol production in 2018 accounted for more than 71,300 direct jobs across the country, adding $46 billion to the gross domestic product, and $25 billion in household income. In North Dakota, the ethanol industry contributes more than $300 million annually to the state’s economy, while in the United States, the ethanol industry adds $42.4 billion to the Gross Domestic Product and contributes $29.9 billion to household income and $8 billion in tax revenue. On how greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are reduced on average by 34% with corn-based ethanol and up to 108% if cellulosic feedstocks are used, compared with gasoline and diesel production and use.
Glynn also emphasized the different uses that Soybean Oil is being utilized for. Everything from creating “carbon black” for tires to creating a cure for Cancer. No longer is Soybeans being used solely as a food source but as an industrial product.
All in all it was a highly successful Expo, with Glynn greeting and helping farmers to understand the role of the Bio Industry in their lives. That “Bio” is not just for “healing the world” but for “feeding and fueling the World as well.

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