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Soybean checkoff investment leads to new soy-based asphalt product

Airable Research Lab is creating new soy-based products to help grow demand for U.S. soybeans.

Jerry Bambauer farms in Auglaize County and is a member of the United Soybean Board.

“We’re making new uses for our soy products,” he says.  “The lab is working very hard to increase the demand for soy and are trying to do right by the general public by producing a green product.”

Airable Research Lab, a division of the Ohio Soybean Council, recently partnered with Warsaw Chemical to commercialize a soy-enhanced asphalt release agent to reduce pavement buildup.

Brandon Kern, deputy executive director of the Ohio Soybean Council, says BIO-SLIDE 30 contains a 30 percent biobased solution that can be used throughout the paving industry.

“The opportunities for various consumer industrial products through this are endless,” he says. “Anything that’s made with petroleum-based oil can largely be done with soybean oil. Our experts at Airable are making it happen.”

Kern says the launch is part of a broader industry-wide effort to solve real-world challenges with new soybean products.

Brownfield interviewed Bambauer and Kern during the 2026 Farm Science Review.

AUDIO: Jerry Bambauer

AUDIO: Brandon Kern