SOY GOOD!
Student inventor introduces soybean tractor fuel

For the second straight year Jason McIntosh has produced the best soybean product among University of Guelph students.

Last year, McIntosh, of Peterborough, wowed sponsor First Line Seeds with Udderly Soyft, a cream to soothe sore cow udders. This year, he beat out maple syrup candies with added soybeans, soybean muffin treats for dogs, lip balm, soybean car wax and soybean ski and snowboard waxes. His

product, an alcohol-soy oil tractor fuel, has caught the interest of local farmers.

Winchester's Weagent's Farm Supplies donated a Kubota tractor engine to his project, which the 20-year-old student now uses for demonstrations. His next demo is at the Kemptville College Power equipment centre at 7:30 p.m., Mon. April 15.

McIntosh, a second-year agricultural student at Kemptville College, won't reveal his recipe. But he

says the fuel is mostly made from soya oil. Other ingredients include alcohol and a ph neutralizer.

He shares this year's winnings from Project Soy with partner Stephane Beriault, of Crysler, and recalled how they came up with the idea. "Both he and I like agriculture, so we thought why not make something for farmers to increase products for soybeans."

McIntosh, from a beef farm, also hopes to get a job with his project to continue with research. Meantime, the University of Guelph's business development centre is marketing McIntosh's winner from last year, an udder balm that he says some people find soothing, including a burn victim and someone with psoriasis. One woman uses his balm on her hands and her horse's hooves. His udder balm includes lavender.

Of all products entered during six years of Project Soy, sponsored by the university and Guelph-based First Line Seeds, McIntosh's udder cream is the closest to market. If only he could get singer Shania Twain, who admits to using Bag Balm, to try his product and like it.