By James Hannah
The Associated Press

Ohio soybean farmers have hired researchers to try to expand typical kitchen uses of their crops as oil, soy sauce, tofu and soy milk to other parts of the house and into the workplace.

The Ohio Soybean Council is spending $1.1 million for Battelle Memorial Institute researchers in Columbus to try to use soybeans to develop furniture coating, printer ink that is easier to remove from paper and pliable plastic for tubing, blood bags and toys.

"What we've tried to do with soybean new-use research is to identify environmentally friendly, less petroleum-based products," said Susie Turner, the council's executive director. "If we create more demand, that will increase prices for soybean producers."

Nationwide efforts to find soybean uses beyond food for cattle and people have led to crops being used in adhesives, paints, lubricants and biodiesel fuel.

The state's 30,000 farmers of soybeans, the state's top cash crop, contribute a portion of their sales at grain elevators to the council. In 2001, soybean sales generated $864 million for Ohio farmers. Corn was second at $824 million.

Soybean farmer Cecil Boes, of Arcadia in northwest Ohio, said finding new uses for soybeans is "vital" to farmers in case crop prices plummet.

"We need to look at every angle we can find," he said.

Turner said Battelle was selected for the research partly because of its contacts with commercial partners. Battelle, the world's largest independent, nonprofit research institute, helped create such common inventions as the compact disc and bar codes on products.

The council hopes the soybean research will lead to a pilot project then marketing contracts.

"A lot of these projects are just now coming to fruition," Turner said.

The most recent effort at Battelle involves using a soy-based powder as a coating for plastic and wood furniture.

The powder is applied to the surface and heated so the particles melt into a shiny, protective coating.