U.S. corn and soybeans have been feeding and fueling the world for decades, but their impact doesn't stop at the table or tank.

New innovations aim to boost demand for these crops by using them to help revolutionize industries and deliver sustainable solutions for everyday life.

- Adrienne Held, Cassidy Walter, and Chelsea Dinterman and Eddie Guy

Animal agriculture is still the top market for soybeans, consuming 33 million metric tons annually. Corn also plays a leading role in livestock feed, as well as ethanol production. But in addition to those mainstays, corn and soy are now showing up in unexpected places such as textiles, tires, plastics, and even as a skin substitute for burn victims.

Carla Schultz farms in Michigan's Thumb and sees the benefits of soybean meal to her farm's pork and poultry rations. She also sees the potential of biofuels and soy-based products. "Obviously, feed is a big piece of the pie chart," she said. "But it's important to stay diversified in your portfolio, because you never know where potential might break out."

More Than a Bean

"Soy is a really versatile feedstock," said Brian Pierce, senior vice president of strategic investment processes for the United Soybean Board (USB), which administers farmers' soybean checkoff investments. "There's a lot of interest in a readily available, sustainable crop that can be used as a raw material in the supply chain."

Healing With Soy

Perhaps one of the most groundbreaking uses of soy comes from NeuEsse, a biotech company that created a human skin substitute made from soy protein. OmegaSkin is a scaffold dressing for patients who have suffered wounds, burns, skin-disrupting ulcers, and other skin/epidermal injuries, said Joe Connell, founder and CEO. He explained that unlike other treatments made from cadavers, pigs, or cows, soy skin integrates into the body, helping patients regenerate real skin, complete with functioning hair follicles and sweat glands.

"The soy skin becomes your body," Connell explained. "It never comes out. You don't face ripping a scab off because the bandage adhered to what you're trying to heal."