Soybean advocate tours ‘soup to nuts’ plant

GILMAN, Ill. — Opportunities and market diversity for soybean farmers were on full display during a recent tour of the Incobrasa Industries.

“It was a welcome opportunity to be able to tour the facility. I’ve been to biodiesel facilities. I’ve been to crushing facilities, but this is the first place I’ve been that was the whole shebang. So, that was very interesting to observe,” said Stan Born, who farms near Lovington in east-central Illinois and is a member of the American Soybean Association board of directors.

Born joined representatives from Clean Fuels Alliance America and media representatives to tour the facility that utilizes soybeans from a 50-mile radius to produce soy meal, soy hulls, soy oil, biodiesel and other byproducts.

“The biggest takeaway for me is I’m encouraged about their continued investment in this business and that they’re working out here to grow the crush. That’s creating good opportunities for the farmers in the area that they draw from, helping provide marketing options for them, market diversification and some maybe improved basis opportunity.”

An expansion is currently underway at the facility to upgrade its soybean oil refinery and add to its crushing and biodiesel production capacities.

“This is a very complete facility from the fact that they’re bringing in the soybeans, they’re putting out the meal for animal products around the country for domestic use, as well as producing the soy oil and producing the biodiesel from the oil, and packaging the oil for human consumption use. That’s a real soup to nuts,” Born said.

The plant is a one-stop-shop in terms of the multiple products that can be produced out of a soybean.

“Soybean is an amazing thing. It really is. I was describing to someone that the bean is like the package, and it has 20% that is oil and 80% of that is protein, and you’ve got a little bit of fiber in there, as well. As farmers, we produce the package, and then folks like Incobrasa are the processors. They split it into the components and give you what you want so that you can use it for your needs,” Born said.

Soybean Advocate

After more than 33 years of management experience at Caterpillar Inc., Born retired, turned to farming and became a strong advocate for the soybean industry.

“We have a soybean and corn rotation. It’s relatively small farm, something that I started after I retired from industry. I farm in Moultrie County in central Illinois. My operation includes myself, my wife and my brother-in-law helps out a little bit, as well,” he said.

“One of the things that I wanted to accomplish when I got back into farming was I wanted to be able to participate in the food business, but I also wanted to have time to be able to volunteer and be engaged in the ag community.

“I’ve been fortunate and I had the opportunity to spend five years on the Illinois Soybean Association, where I had a variety of different roles there and learned about things here in the state.”

As an ISA director, Born served as treasurer and assistant secretary-treasurer and was a member of the Production and Outreach Committee. He also was an ISA soy ambassador.

He has been a director on the American Soybean Association board since 2016 and served as treasurer since 2021.

Born was appointed to the U.S. Soybean Export Council where he served for six years, including a term as chairman. He also was on the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health.

Extended Season

It was a drawn-out planting season for Born.

“Every single field I planted this year, I got rained on, and my planting tractor is an open station tractor, no cab. So, when I say I got rained on, I literally got rained on,” he said.

“I was able to get all my beans planted by April 18. So, that was good. I like to plant beans first, then corn. I got about half my corn done by the April 25, and the rest of it was after Mother’s Day, May 17-18, and I still have a wee bit to do. I have a little bit of replanting to do.”