These aren't your father's uses for corn and soybeans

   Corn and soybeans aren't just for food and feed anymore. A look at some of the products being created out of the crops:

Corn
   – Absorbent material: Created from cornstarch, this product can absorb up to 2,000 times its weight in water, and when it does, it becomes a gelatin-like material. The absorbent material can also be used in bandages for burn victims, and in babies' diapers to keep them dry.
   – Arts and crafts materials: Using a wet sponge – or even your tongue – to moisten and stick them together, these cornstarch-based, colorful building blocks can be assembled into any desired shape. They dissolve in water, so they can be discarded by just throwing them down the sink or out in the rain. And if kids accidentally eat the building blocks, that's OK, too – but the manufacturer recommends washing them down with something to drink.
   – Butanol: Also known as butyl alcohol, corn-based butanol can be used for resins, lacquers, brake fluid and plasticizers, which can be used to modify plastics and paints.
   – Ethanol: Nearly half of all gasoline sold in Illinois contains 10 percent ethanol, with about 17 percent of the state's corn crop used for ethanol production. The state of Illinois fleet includes more than 350 Chevrolet Luminas and Ford Tauruses fitted to run on fuel that's 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent unleaded gasoline.
   – De-icer: To make cars stick when the roadways get wintry slick, this corn-based product can be used as an environment-friendly substitute for salting down streets.
   – Golf tees: Unlike their wooden counterparts, which take about three years to degrade into the soil, these corn-based tees degrade in about a year. But when used on the links, golfers can count on getting more than twice as many drives out of their corn-based tees than their wooden ones before having to replace the tees, according to the manufacturer.
   – Packing "peanuts": While packing with popcorn can be an oily mess because the germ containing the corn oil isn't removed, and packing with synthetic foam can make it tough to properly dispose of the materials, packing peanuts made from cornstarch don't make an oily mess and can be discarded by putting them in a compost pile or – in some areas – simply washing them down the sink.

Soybeans
   – Building materials: Made with recycled paper and soybean oil, this decorative surface material has a granite look to it, but working with it is like working with wood. It's harder than oak but lighter than granite, and it can be found adorning John Deere's corporate board room in Moline and in Trump Tower in New York City.
   – Cooking oil: Some 75 percent of all vegetable oil is made from soybeans, and most vegetable oil bought in grocery stores is pure soybean oil.
   – Crayons: Made from soybean oil instead of petroleum-based paraffin wax, these brightly colored crayons don't flake off wax when used. And unlike traditional crayons, soybean-based crayons can be blended together to get different colors.
   – Diesel fuel: An alternative fuel that can be made from soybean oil, biodiesel is completely biodegradable, and diesel engines don't need to be modified to run on it. A popular fuel blends regular diesel fuel with 20 percent biodiesel.
   – Soy ink: Using oil extracted from soybeans, ink manufacturers blend the oil with a variety of pigments, resins and waxes to make an ink used in 90 percent of the nation's daily newspapers – including this one.
   – Soy milk: Extracted from whole soybeans, soy milk can be stored, unopened, at room temperature for months. Soy milk can be used for many of the same things cows' milk is used for, including pouring it over cereal or even making cream sauces.
   – Tofu: Also known as soybean curd, tofu is a soft, cheese-like food popular with vegetarians and common in Asian cooking. Typically formed by pressing the curds into a block, tofu acts like a sponge, soaking up any flavors added to it.
   SOURCES: Illinois Corn Growers Association, Illinois Corn Marketing Board, Illinois Soybean Association and Illinois Soybean Checkoff Board

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