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Minnesota Soybean celebrates a successful summer “Driving Soy”

The CEO of the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council says the Driving Soy campaign has been so successful it will probably return next year.

During Farmfest in southwest Minnesota Wednesday, Tom Slunecka told Brownfield the promotion connecting soy-based Goodyear tires with first responders is the culmination of an entire summer’s worth of work.

“Of course these tires are going to be available long into the future, and don’t be too surprised if we don’t bring the campaign back again next year because it’s one of the most popular things that we’ve done for several years.”

Through Checkoff support both nationally from the United Soybean Board and at the state level, he says more than 40 “soybean counties” in Minnesota have helped get the tires out to first responders in their areas.

He says tires and performance go hand-in-hand.

“Are they going to last? Are they going to work in snow and ice? So we (asked ourselves) who has to rely on performance, and that’s our first responders. So the program worked well, the tires were sized right for those cars, so we started getting them on those first responder vehicles.”

Slunecka says Minnesota soybean farmers are excited about Driving Soy.

“Anything that they can touch and feel and see that’s making a difference. Oftentimes we talk about trade, and that’s so big, how do I touch and feel? But whenever there’s tires driving by you, you can grab ahold of that or you could buy one, it makes a lot of difference.”

Goodyear has increased its use of soybeans by 73 percent since 2018 and has pledged to replace all its petroleum-driven oils by 2040.