When it’s too cold to be outside, soy-based crayons are a farmer-supported product to entertain anyone.  

Whether you’re playing a game of Tic-Tac-Toe, drawing in an adult coloring book or on the kid’s menu waiting for your meal, soy-based crayons are a great alternative.  

As senior director of product development & commercialization at Minnesota Soybean, Mike Youngerberg has invested his career toward bringing value-added products to the marketplace. 

“I really want to talk about all of the biobased, soy-based products that are out there,” Youngerberg said. “These are available today and are making a difference for farmers and for people that want to use soy-based products.” 

Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council (MSR&PC) continues to color the world. MSR&PC, like the other Qualified State Soybean Boards that administer the federal soy checkoff, has supported the production of products that find new uses for soy.  

Checkoff funding goes further than the field with soy-based products that are found around the house, on the roof, on the roads and everywhere else. Others are taking note of the impact of soybeans beyond the plant and into products like soy-based crayons.  

Celebrating biobased 

In March 2024, USDA started recognizing National Biobased Products Day. The new national day was created to recognize the benefits biobased products bring to the U.S., including contributions to the economy, benefits to rural communities and cleaner options for consumers. 

MSR&PC prides itself in funding research efforts to help create and advance such biobased products with various institutions, private companies and individuals. 

“There’s an endless amount of opportunity for soy-based products in today’s market,” Youngerberg said. “No matter what the products — from roads to crayons to everything in between, we’re really hitting the mark.”  

Youngerberg explained the Council has supported products like soy-based crayons because the crayons are environmentally friendly for kids to use and create a market for soybean oil.  

Though this may be a new product to you (or maybe not), soybean oil has been used for more than 25 years in crayons. Many students across Minnesota have been using these crayons, thanks to many local county soybean and corn grower boards. 

“I’ve used the crayons at the fairs. There’s a lot of opportunity to reach out to children there,” said Samantha Yetzer, University of Minnesota Extension Educator. “I’ve used them at different events and in the Master Gardener booth. Even though soybeans aren’t directly related to gardening, I thought it was a great opportunity to share different sides of agriculture.” 

These events were spread across multiple counties in Minnesota, reaching more students and their parents.   

Murray County Corn & Soybean Growers use these crayons for drawing competitions at the local county fair. The Nicollet-Sibley County Corn & Soybean Growers donate them to the FFA and 4H organizations to use. Some are donated to schools for kids, some are donated to local restaurants and various other locations to support community efforts. 

“We like to donate the soy-based crayons to the kids for them to use and because we know they’re going to show their parents and other adults in their lives what they got,” said Brad Hovel, Goodhue County Corn & Soybean Grower chair. “Anytime we can get a soybean product in front of people, we take the opportunity, and it’s even better when we can support the community at the same time.” 

Easy to purchase 

Soy-based crayons are widely available at Walmart, on Amazon and at craft stores. The brand Prang of soy crayons are in high supply. There are many other stores and brands that offer soy-based crayons for sale that can be found with an online search. 

Azafran soy-based crayons are another option. This brand is different from the others: Azafran crayons are made from soy wax, soy butter and coconut butter. 

According to the United Soybean Board (USB), soy-based crayons produce smooth and vibrant colors due to the soybean oil, allowing the pigments to blend well with a creamy texture. According to USB, soy-based crayons are made with 85% soybean oil.  

MSR&PC continues to bring soy-based products to the forefront of people’s minds to bring awareness of what is available for commercial consumption and purchase. Soy-based crayons are just one of more than 1,000 soy-based products in the marketplace, many of which were developed with soy checkoff support. In the future months, the Council will share more products developed from U.S. soybeans.