Soybeans to the rescue

When Boone County Fire Protection District trucks rolled out on a call over the July 4 weekend, the crews had a new tool on board—one they believe will make firefighting safer for both people and the planet.

That truck was the first in Missouri to be equipped with SoyFoam^™ TF 1122, a soybean-based firefighting material free of “forever chemicals,” which have long raised health and environmental concerns. After extensive testing and a live burn demonstration during Missouri Soybeans’ Grain Smart Field Day on June 4, the Boone County district made the decision to fully adopt the new product.

“Learning more about the safety of this foam and then experiencing its performance on actual fires made the switch an easy decision,” Assistant Chief Gale Blomenkamp said. “We use foam on nearly every fire we extinguish, so safety is paramount.”

The first real-world test came on a house fire during the July 4 holiday weekend, and Blomenkamp said SoyFoam worked exactly as intended.

“Knowing that we were leaving the environment as good—or better—than it was when we arrived is a great feeling,” Blomenkamp said.

For decades, firefighting foams have relied on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), synthetic chemicals that don’t break down in the environment and have been linked to cancer and other health risks. SoyFoam is 100% free of PFAS and made with soy flour, making it readily biodegradable and 84% biobased. Current formulations could use as many as 12 million bushels of soybeans, expanding markets for American farmers.

“We appreciate Missouri Soybeans and the Boone County Fire Protection District for supporting SoyFoam,” said Alan Snipes, CEO of Cross Plains Solutions, the product developer. “Thanks to checkoff support from Missouri Soybeans and the United Soybean Board, we brought this product to market and are researching even more applications.”

Photo Caption: The Boone County Fire Protection District is the first in Missouri to transition to SoyFoam, a plant-based firefighting foam meant to be more environmentally friendly because it does not include PFAS, also called forever chemicals.

View more articles from this October/November 2025 Today's Farmer magazine.