Des Moines, IA (March 8, 2023)— Landus partnered with Corn Board Manufacturing, Inc., on March 8, to recognize the USDA’s first annual National Biobased Products Day and to announce that Corn Board will build a manufacturing plant outside of Odebolt, Iowa, beginning this summer.
Corn Board will officially break ground on their new facility in Odebolt, IA. About 50-70 farmers will have the opportunity to receive payments for their corn stover. A facility of this caliber will employ 20-30 people in the Sac and Ida County areas. This development in rural Iowa is a positive note that bioproducts have a future in Iowa and can stimulate local economies with jobs.
“This is not just a USDA specific day. This is a day for all of us in the bioeconomy to bring attention to growing sustainability, growing US manufacturing, and caring for our rural communities.”
Products featured at the conference included the headlining host Corn Board — a wood-like material that is manufactured from corn stover. Not only was this conference a chance to showcase products, but companies like the World's Best Cat Litter, a sustainable cat litter, based in Muscatine, IA, and Gearhead, a soy-based lubricant made by Natural Soy in Brooklyn, IA, were able to showcase their products where attendees could gain further insight into the range of what bioproducts can offer.
USDAs Rural Development branch provides loans and grants to companies that are pushing the standards of how sustainable products can work themselves into competitive markets. Via company submissions, the USDA has compiled a comprehensive list of companies that meet the USDA BioPreferred product list. Over 3,000 companies are on the list with an additional 700 applicants to be added — many are operating in Iowa.
Landus is here to work with farmers to add value and create monetization opportunities for their land while operating as sustainably as possible. By developing these products in Iowa, our rural communities can see economic growth in not only agriculture, but manufacturing too.
Thank you to all of our speakers and attendees. To watch all conference speeches, view our video below.
https://youtu.be/_auPr2QfMHY
Speakers in order of appearance: Ann Appleseth with Landus, Anna Lensing with Iowa Economic Development Authority; Matt Russell with the Farm Service Agency; Theresa Greenfield with USDA; Eric Cochran with SoyLei Innovations and Iowa State University; Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Naig; David Etrl with Iowa Corn; Lane Segerstrom with CornBoard Manufacturing Inc.
