Fighting Fires With Soy: New Fire Suppressant Supports Wisconsin Agriculture, the Environment and First Responders

Soybeans are a versatile crop, with soybean oil, meal and more long being used for animal feed, food applications and nonfood products like pharmaceuticals. Now, the mighty soybean serves another purpose thanks to a checkoff initiative from the Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board (WSMB): extinguishing fires.

SoyFoam TF 1122™ is a fire suppressant developed by Cross Plains Solutions that uses soybean flour as a main ingredient. The product dissipates quickly and doesn’t contain any harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances, also known as forever chemicals, that most products on the market include. WSMB checkoff dollars are being put toward the research and development behind the product.

“In the big scheme of things, this is another market that our soybeans can be used for, but this one specifically affects different walks of life,” says Pat Mullooly, president of the Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board. “If we can help protect both firefighters and the environment with one product, it’s a win-win.”

While currently manufactured with soy flour, SoyFoam TF 1122™ is undergoing more testing with soybean meal, which is more readily available and economical. Soy flour is further processed than soy meal.

“Wisconsin has a plethora of soybean meal,” says Dave Garlie, chief technology officer and managing partner with Cross Plains Solutions. “It’s a really beautiful building block that needs some attention to create demand.”

Garlie is a scientist and one of the co-inventors of SoyFoam TF 1122™. Along with his partner, the two have spent a combined 60 years working in the agricultural industry. He says it’s extremely rewarding to be able to work on something that allows him to use his chemical experience as a way to give back to the farming community.

“I’m really focused on helping the soy community to use all aspects of the product in new and innovative ways,” Garlie says.

To help showcase how SoyFoam TF 1122™ works, a demonstration was held at Chippewa Valley Technical College in Eau Claire in August, where Garlie says they’ve done a lot of their research. A previous demonstration was held in Dalton, Georgia, with extremely positive feedback.

“I’m a really big fan of a hands-on demonstration,” he says. “The cooperation with the WSMB as well as the firefighting community has been tremendous. We make samples of the foam, hand it off to the professionals and they provide extremely helpful feedback.”

SoyFoam TF 1122™ only uses soybeans grown in Wisconsin – another big win for the state. And demand is growing across state lines. Along with the demonstration in Georgia, Minnesota banned fire suppressants that contain forever chemicals, so SoyFam TF 1122™ provides an environmentally friendly solution.

Learn more about the product at wisoybean.org.