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Have a Side of Beans

© Diane Stresing

You probably know that Honda, the first Japanese automaker to make cars in the United States, opened its first U.S. plant in central Ohio. (Since then, the company has added plants in Alabama and North and South Carolina, as well.) But did you know the Marysville plant exports soybeans--to Japan? To the tune of $10 million a year?

Yep.

The seeds of Honda's soybean operation were planted some 20 years ago, when a Japanese soybean supplier and a Honda executive met--quite by chance--in an airport. Their initial discussions eventually sprouted into Honda's soybean processing and export business.

The Honda-owned soybean processing plant (the only one is here in Ohio) employs eighteen people. In keeping with Honda's other high-tech production facilities, the soybean processing is done, at least in part, by robots. A $1 million dust-collection system keeps soybean dust away from the painting operation nearby, so new Honda Accords don't arrive on the showroom floor coated with high-protein bean dust.

Learn more by reading the full AP article, courtesy of the Detroit Free Press, at: http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw11...

Speaking of beans, other agricultural endeavors in Ohio are growing, too... this I learn courtesy of my alma mater, The Ohio State University, which sends me an oh-so-newsy newsletter every month or so.

OSU Extension "Grows" Ohio's Economy, Residents, and Communities

According to a 2005 Battelle study, every 1 percent increase in agricultural output achieved through OSU Extension programming brings $149 million in direct and indirect output to Ohio, $29 million in personal income for Ohioans, and 2,712 jobs. The OSU Extension "extends" its resources throughout Ohio through education and research in agriculture, nutrition, the creation of new products, and family/community life. READ MORE at http://extension.osu.edu/~news/story.php...

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