The developer of an exciting new soy-based firefighting foam was the keynote speaker during the Todd County Corn & Soybean Growers’ annual meeting, which was held March 25 at Shattuck’s Hub Supper Club in Burtrum. With both local farmers and firefighters in attendance, Dave Garlie of Cross Plains Solutions showcased the new soy-checkoff-funded product aimed at being a safer alternative to traditional firefighting foams, all while supporting agriculture.  

“We were really excited to have Dave up here in Todd County to tell the story of SoyFoam, which we’ll soon be giving out samples of to all the fire departments in the county,” said Todd County Corn & Soybean Growers President Marcus Meiners.  

Made with soy flour, SoyFoam is the first and only Greenscreen Certified Gold Fire Foam with no intentionally added PFAS, aka forever chemicals. Cross Plains Solutions, the developer of SoyFoam, has been working with the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council (MSR&PC) to continue testing and promoting the product as a safer alternative to traditional firefighting foam. Along with being PFAS-free, SoyFoam is fluorine-free and biodegradable. On the demand side, current applications of SoyFoam have the potential to use the protein from 12 million bushels of soybeans.  

Unifying two community backbones to reduce the risk of cancer, the No. 1 cause of death among firefighters, the farmer-led MSR&PC is excited to announce the launch of its statewide, checkoff-supported SoyFoam campaign, “Planting to Protect: From Farm to Flame.”  

“There are nine required burns, and SoyFoam can put out all nine burns,” said Garlie, referring to ongoing federal regulations during a SoyFoam panel discussion at MN Ag Expo in January 2025. 

SoyFoam is compatible with existing foam inductors and aerating nozzles and is comparable in cost to traditional firefighting foam. With a shelf life of 10 years, SoyFoam can be frozen, heated and thawed and will still be fully functional. 

To assist the local county soybean organizations such as the Todd County Corn & Soybean Growers, MSR&PC will provide support to encourage counties to donate five pails of SoyFoam to their respective fire departments. During the annual meeting, three of the local fire departments, Clarissa, Bertha and Swanville, were each awarded a sample pail of SoyFoam. Long Prairie, Browerville, Eagle Bend, Staples, Grey Eagle and Hewitt will also receive SoyFoam buckets later this spring.  

For more information on the SoyFoam Planting to Protect: From Farm to Flame campaign, visit mnsoybean.org/msrpc/soyfoam.  

The Todd 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 26,000 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.