Newsletter

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is projecting the 2015/16 soybean production for marketing year, that begin on September 1, at 2,930 million bushels of which 1,890 million bushels will be crushed and 1,680 bushels will be exported. These figures are approximately the same as the 2014/15 marketing year and somewhat higher than the 2013/14 marketing year.

Domestic use of soybean meal is predicted at 33,300 thousand short tons which is greater than the previous two marketing years. Soybean meal exports are estimated to be slightly lower compared to last year and about the same as the 2013/2014 marketing year. Bottom line, adequate supplies of soybean NCHRPeans and soybean meal are available for both the domestic and foreign user of soybean and soybean meal. Our soybean farmers are eagerly looking forward to the spring and planting the new crop. With “normal” weather our farmers will continue to produce a raw material important to providing a protein feed ingredient critical to our World’s growing demand for meat, milk and eggs.

U.S. Soybean Production and Use

U.S. Soybean Meal Production and Use

USDA’s, Foreign Agricultural Service just published World soybean production values for crop year 2015/16. The United States leads in soybean production with 106.85 million metric tons. Brazil was close with 100 mmt, followed by Argentina; these three countries accounted for nearly 85 % of the World’s total production of soybeans. Comparing the soybean production values for the past two growing seasons one can see the production values have not changed.

World Soybean Production-2015/16 (*) (Million metric tons)

Two experiments were designed to determine the nitrogen and amino acid digestibilities of plant protein sources (potato protein concentrate, soy protein concentrate, soy protein isolate, linseed meal, sunflower meal, cottonseed meal, canola meal, and camelina meal) fed to growing pigs. In each experiment, barrows were surgically fitted with a simple T-cannula at the distal ileum and fed four experimental diets and a N-free diet based on a replicated 5 x 2 crossover arrangement with five diets and two feeding periods.

Key Findings:

• In the first experiment, the apparent  ileal digestibility (AID) and standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of nitrogen were similar for soy concentrate and soy isolate and greater than linseed meal (P < 0.05);
• In the second experiment, sunflower meal, cottonseed meal, canola meal, and camelina meal were fed to 42-kg barrows to determine their AID and SID of amino acids. The AID and SID of nitrogen and most  amino  acids were not significantly different for sunflower meal and canola meal; and
• Cottonseed meal had lower AID and SID for nitrogen and the essential amino acids compared with the other protein sources (P < 0.05).

The researchers concluded that the digestibility of nitrogen and amino acids vary greatly among oilseed meals. The digestibility of potato protein concentrate was greater than that of the two soy protein ingredients which had similar protein digestibilities. The other protein meals, linseed, canola, sunflower and cottonseed had both lower crude protein levels and protein digestibilities. (Editor’s note: This research supports the role of soy protein in supplying needed amino acids in diets of the growing pig. Soy protein normally has amino acid digestibilities values higher than other commonly used plant protein ingredients. Feed formulators find soybean meal very competitive based on its availability, composition and price.

Table 1. Analyzed nutrient composition of the ingredients

Table 2. Apparent ideal digestibility of nitrogen and amino acids in test ingredients

Table 3. Standardized ideal digestibility of nitrogen and amino acids in test ingredients

Soybean Products for Dairy Cattle – Animal scientists at The Pennsylvania State University have written a review of the use of soybean and soybean byproducts for dairy. They overviewed the use of soybeans and soybean byproducts in dairy rations. They report that soybeans, soybean meal, and hulls are an excellent source of crude protein and fit into any type of forage-based ration. Depending on how the soybeans were processed, they can provide high quality protein, degradable, undegradable and soluble protein, energy, fat, and fiber.

Soybeans also provide protein and energy to the ration. If soybeans have been properly heat-treated then they can provide additional rumen undegradable protein (RUP) and fat. Soybeans that have not been heated provide a source of degradable and soluble protein.

Soybean meal is used as a protein source for dairy cattle. There are some heat treated soybean meal products that provide additional RUP to the diet.

Soybean hulls provide an excellent source of digestible fiber. They are often incorporated into dairy cattle diets to help stretch forage supplies or to minimize risk from rumen acidosis.

There is no question that soybeans and its byproducts can provide various nutrients to the rations of dairy cattle. However as with any feed, there are some limitations that need to be recognized so their full benefits to the dairy cow can be achieved. This review article discusses the proper use and processing of soybeans, soybean meal and hull for dairy.

Each year Evonik Industries updates a comprehensive report characterizing U.S. soybean meal compositional data. Samples of the feed ingredients are supplied to the Evonik Health & Nutrition group by feed formulators. Their laboratory analyzes the soybean meal samples and reports values for the various geographical regions that supply the feed industry. The mean values for soybean meal for crop years 2011 to 2015 are shown in the following table.

The Composition of Soybean Meal for Crop Years 2011-2015 (*)

Soybean Meal Replacement of Fish Meal – As a result of increasing demand, uncertain availability, and increasing cost for fish meal (FM), fish nutritionists have been driven to find alternative sources of protein. Particularly for carnivorous species such as Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens (Mitchell), alternative plant-based feedstuffs have shown decreased performance compared to FM. Processed (mechanical, chemical, or microbiological) soybean products are of primary interest as alternative feedstuffs due to their availability, domestic production, low price and nutritional profile; however, use of processed soy has displayed varying degrees of success. Novel soy ingredients created through bioprocessing technology potentially provide more highly digestible nutrients with fewer anti-nutritional factors (ANFs) than traditionally processed soy products.

To examine the utility of certain bioprocessing technologies, ingredient compositions were compared and incorporated into three Yellow Perch feeding trials. The first feeding trial was completed to measure apparent digestibility of protein and energy of commercial and experimental bioprocessed soybean meal (BP-SBM), and other common feed protein ingredients. Bioprocessing consistently upgraded the bioavailability of protein in defatted soybean meal, while commercially bioprocessed xvi Hamlet HP 300 provided the highest digestibility of all soy products tested. Extrusion as a pretreatment to bioprocessing had a negative effect on digestibility.

The second experiment was a 14-week feeding trial to evaluate growth performance, digestibility, and organosomatic responses of Yellow Perch fed diets containing commercial alcohol-washed soy protein concentrate (SPC), bioprocessed soy white flake (BP-WF), or extrusion pretreated BP-WF as complete FM replacements. Each soy protein source was replicated in diets with and without supplemental lysine + methionine. BP diets consistently performed better than SPC diets. Extrusion pretreatment led to improved consumption and growth performance over unextruded products. Lysine and methionine supplementation further improved growth. SPC diets provided the best feed conversion ratio (1.62) and highest apparent digestibility of protein (91.8%), but examination of anatomical characteristics revealed significant deficiencies in fish fed SPC diets.

In the final 16-week feeding trial they evaluated growth performance, feed intake, and organosomatic responses of Yellow Perch fed diets containing various processed SBM products. Treatment factors included soybean variety (GMO or non-GMO), extrusion pretreatment and FM replacement levels (40 and 70%). An FM control and 14 soy-based diets were formulated on a dry matter basis to contain similar crude protein (45%), lipid (9%), and gross energy (20.9 MJ/Kg). Five soy treatments displayed higher relative growth than the FM control diet and nine lower growth. A non-GMO, nonextruded, extruded SBM provided enhanced growth at both inclusion levels when compared to FM. Both the GMO and non-GMO commercial SBMs provided similar growth to the reference diet at the low FM replacement level, but growth was depressed at the higher level.

Scott C. Sindelar. 2014. Utilization of soybean products as fish meal protein replacement in yellow perch (Perca flavescens) feeds. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Science Major in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences Specialization in Fisheries Sciences South Dakota State University.

An 8-week feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of replacing fish meal with soybean meal (SBM) on growth, feed utilization, and nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) excretion of juvenile Pseudobagrus ussuriensis (a genus of bagrid catfish inhabiting streams and rivers in eastern Asia). Juveniles weighting about 0.5 gram were allocated to seven isonitrogenous and isolipidic diets formulated with SBM replacing fish meal protein at 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% and 60%. One additional diet was formulated to determine whether 0.30% crystalline methionine added to the 60% replacement diet would improve growth.

The results showed that there was no significant difference in weight gain among fish fed diets containing up to 40% SBM, however, a significant reduction in this weight gain occurred when 50% and 60% of fish meal protein was replaced by SBM (P ‹ 0.05). Apparent digestibility coefficients of dry matter, crude protein and phosphorus of diets were affected by dietary SBM levels; fish meal replacement by SBM resulted in an increase in N excretion and a reduction in P excretion. Adding crystalline methionine to the 60% fish meal replacement diet did not improve growth, feed utilization and N and P excretion. The results of this study show that 40% of fish meal protein could be replaced by SBM in diets of juvenile P. ussuriensis without having a significant negative effect on growth or feed efficiency, but that higher dietary SBM levels reduce fish performance.