COTTONWOOD COUNTY – Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council (MSR&PC) has put its Driving Soy campaign back on the road, thanks to a recent Cottonwood County Corn and Soybean Growers donation of tires to local schools.

The Cottonwood County board, using checkoff funds, donated four sets of Goodyear soy-based tires to schools around the county. The board wanted to give back to their communities, while also supporting the various uses for soybeans.

“The board donated soy-based tires to the schools because we saw a need and wanted to give back,” Board member Dale Evers said. “We think it’s important to be involved and to use the checkoff funds in a way that impacts our communities.”

Mountain Lake Public School, Westbrook-Walnut Grove Schools, Redrock Central High School and Windom Area School each received a set of Goodyear tires for a school vehicle.

One set of tires was put on the high school driving instruction vehicle, which serves hundreds of students as they learn to drive and now with the help of soybeans.

“The donation of a set of tires came as a pleasant surprise and we are happily putting them to the test on the district’s car, a vehicle used mainly for driver’s education,” Mountain Lake Public School Drivers Instructor Annette Kunkel said. “I’ve been impressed by the tire’s ability to grip the road, providing stable traveling on a variety of road surfaces. I’m anxious to test their abilities in snow and ice this winter. We are grateful for this opportunity.”

Since 2017, Goodyear, supported by United Soybean Board checkoff investments, has released six lines of tires with soybean oil compounds: Assurance WeatherReady, Eagle Enforcer All Weather, Eagle Exhilarate, Assurance Comfort Drive, Metro Miler G152 and G652 tires for transit buses along with the popular Endurance WHA waste haul tire.

The Akron, Ohio-based company has increased its use of soybeans by 73% since 2018 and pledged to fully replace all of its petroleum-driven oils with soybean oil by 2040.

The Cottonwood County Corn and Soybean Growers Association is affiliated with the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council, which oversees the investment of soybean checkoff dollars on behalf of the nearly 28,000 soybean farmers in Minnesota. The Council is governed by the rules of a federally mandated checkoff program that requires all soybean producers pay a fee on the soybeans they sell. This money is used to promote, educate and develop market opportunities for soybeans.