DES MOINES, Iowa (AFX) - Soybeans appear to be the star at this week's Farm Progress Show in Amana, with major agriculture companies announcing work on varieties that produce more oils for fuel and others that are healthier for both humans and animals.
The 2006 Farm Progress Show, which began Tuesday, is a chance for hands-on contact with everything agricultural -- giving livestock producers a look at the latest technology for the care of animals, and allowing grain farmers to see various seed hybrids growing in demonstration plots and to hear about new crop research.
More than 425 exhibitors were expected at the three-day show, billed as the 'Super Bowl of Agriculture,' and held alternate years in Iowa and Illinois.
DuPont Co. and Bunge North America on Tuesday announced that they're developing soybeans that will boost soy diesel production, while Monsanto Co. planned to tout its work on Wednesday on a soybean that's high in heart-healthy Omega-3 fatty acid.
DuPont officials said the Bunge DuPont Biotech Alliance was formed in 2003 to research and develop soybean oil traits with the help of Des Moines-based Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc.
Erik Fyrwald, group vice president for DuPont Agriculture and Nutrition, said the companies are moving beyond food products into new areas.
'Over the three years of our collaboration, we have seen the interest in biofuel, industrial and feed sectors expand exponentially,' he said Tuesday. 'We are making strides to bring products to market to meet the growing demand.'
That includes biodiesel, and the companies are busy identifying which soybean seeds now available produce beans with more oil, and are using breeding techniques to increase levels of oil in the future for biodiesel, he said.
'We see this whole biofuels area as extremely exciting for the industry, for agriculture and for DuPont,' Fyrwald said.
Meanwhile, Monsanto said its researchers are engineering soybeans to produce oil with high levels of Omega-3 fatty acid, which is traditionally found in fish. The company said it's using biotechnology to enrich the Omega-3 content in soybean seeds to create an oil that's tastier and more stable than fish oil.
Monsanto expects the product, which researchers hope will produce 20 percent of their fatty acids as heart-healthy Omega-3, to provide a new market opportunity for farmers to deliver crops with health benefits to consumers.
'I believe this will help pave the way for the ability to deliver this important material into a variety of food applications that can allow for the introduction of this nutrient,' said Robb Fraley, Monsanto's chief technology officer.
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