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The U.S. Department of Agriculture is estimating world soybean production in the 2017/2018 market year will be 344.671 million metric tons. Three countries, Brazil, Argentina and the U.S., are projected to produce about 81% of the world’s total soybeans. The United States estimate is 115.8 million metric tons, or 4,246 million bushels.

World Soybean Production

World soybean meal use is closely related to the country’s livestock and poultry enterprises. China, European Union, U.S. and Brazil account for about 65% of the world’s use of soybean meal; with the remaining 35% spread between numerous countries with commercial livestock and poultry operations. China’s demand for soybean meal is growing since they are the World’s largest producers of pork and aquaculture. The World’s demand for meat, milk and eggs means a growing demand for soybean meal and feed grains.

World Soybean Meal Use 2016-2017

Soybean meal (SBM) is used as the major source of supplemental protein in the livestock industry mainly due to its excellent nutrient profile, dependable supply, and lower cost. However, the oligosaccharide content of SBM is believed by some nutritionists to affect the growth performance and health of early-weaned pigs. These oligosaccharides, raffinose and stachyose, are heat-stable components of soybean and cannot be removed by meal processing. Raffinose and stachyose can resist digestion in monogastic animals due to the lack of enzyme α-galactosidase. These oligosaccharides increase the viscosity of intestinal content and digesta transit time, which subsequently leads to poor digestion and absorption of nutrients. Soybean meal produced from a new variety of soybean with a low amount of oligosaccharide and greater crude protein, lysine, and other essential amino acids has been used in several studies with varied results. Removal of oligosaccharides from SBM was shown to increase the metabolizable energy (ME) content in roosters. In comparison with conventional SBM, low-oligosaccharide soybean meal (LOSBM) was shown to have a greater concentration of digestible amino acids for weanling piglets, but did not affect piglet growth performance when diets were formulated to contain similar quantities of ME and standardized ileal digestible (SID) lysine: ME ratio. With limited data on the effects of LOSBM on pig performance, it was the objective of this study to evaluate the effect of LOSBM for wean-to-finish pigs. A total of 432 crossbred pigs 19 days old and weighing about 6.6 kg were utilized in this experiment. The results of this 130-day study showed that pig growth performance (average daily gains, feed intake and feed efficiencies) and carcass traits (hot carcass weight, dressing percentage, back fat depth, loin depth, and lean percentage) were not affected (P › 0.05) by dietary treatments. The researchers concluded that reducing oligosaccharides in the diet of pigs by replacing the conventional soybean meal with a low-oligosaccharide soybean meal during the wean-to-finishing feeding period did not improve growth performance and carcass characteristics of pigs.

An experiment was conducted to determine the apparent ileal digestibility (AID) and the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of the crude protein and amino acid in four processed soybean products, in conventional dehulled soybean meal (SBM), and in a conventional 00-rapeseed expeller meal (RSE). The four processed soybean products included two sources of enzyme-treated soybean meal (ESBM-1 and ESBM-2), an extruded soybean meal (ESBM), and a soy protein concentrate (SPC). Weanling barrows weighing about 9.3 kg were surgically equipped with a T-cannula in the distal ileum. Twenty-seven pigs were randomly allotted to a cornstarch-based diet where the test protein ingredient was the only source of crude protein and amino acid. Two groups of pigs were fed an N-free diet for calculating basal endogenous losses of crude protein and amino acid.

The digestibilities studies results are shown in the following table. Generally, the digestibilities of the five soy-based ingredients were not greatly different. The digestibilities of crude protein and some amino acids were significantly greater (P›0.05) for the one enzyme-treated soybean meal compared to the higher protein SPC. Relative large differences in digestibilities were observed comparing the soy-based ingredients compared to the rapeseed meal. The results of this research study indicates that although processing of SBM results in increased concentration of crude protein, processing may also reduce the digestibility of AA, which is likely due to heat damage during processing.

Digestibilities of crude protein and amino acids in enzyme-treated soybean meal, extruded soybean meal, soy protein concentrate, conventional dehulled soybean meal, and a conventional 00-rapeseed expeller meal fed to pigs.

Researchers at the University of Illinois determined the effects of graded levels of microbial phytase on the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of phosphorus (P) and calcium (Ca) and the standardized total tract digestibility (STTD) of P in four canola meals and one soybean meal (SBM) fed to growing pigs. Pigs weighing about 16 kg were individually housed in metabolism crates and were randomly allotted to 1 of 20 diets in a 5 × 4 factorial arrangement of treatments with 5 meal sources and 4 levels of phytase (0, 500, 1,500, and 2,500 phytase units/kg). There were 6 replicate pigs per diet. Feces were quantitatively collected for 5-days after a 7-day adaptation period.Results indicated that supplementation of microbial phytase increased (linear, P ‹ 0.05) the ATTD of Ca and increased (linear and quadratic, P ‹ 0.05) the ATTD and STTD of P in this experiment. Regression equations were developed to calculate the response to microbial phytase. The value of this study is that now the response of adding microbial phytase can be predicted by regression equation.

A comprehensive review of genetically modified crops (GM or GMO) was published in a recent issue of Animal Frontiers. This review paper discusses in depth the GMO benefits and issues related to animal nutrition. The author summarized the article with the following bullet points. Genetically modified (GM or GMO) crops have been widely adopted by growers and are a significant source of feed for animal agriculture.

• Most GMO crops commercialized for animal feed have input traits that do not change their composition or nutritional value for animals.
• Feeding GMO crops does not result in detection of transgenic DNA or their translated proteins in meat, milk, or eggs.
•  Genetically modified crops help reduce greenhouse gases, decrease agricultural chemical use, and increase farmer incomes.
• Genetically modified crops provide better pest protection and weed control, which increases yields and preserves more land for wildlife and biodiversity.

The overall message of this review was that these technologies play an important role in our ability to produce more food with fewer resources. These technologies are examples of tools that have been used over the past hundred years to improve productivity. In the past, simple genetic selection for desirable traits in livestock and crops was used. These new genetic modification tools are faster, more efficient, and more cost effective compared to those used in the past. The failure to accept these new technologies as a way to increase productivity will delay one solution for solving world hunger challenges.

Broiler chickens are fast growing monogastric animals considered a sensitive test species to evaluate the safety and nutritional equivalence between transgenic and non-transgenic grains as part of the human safety evaluation process. DAS-44406-6 soybean expresses three herbicide-tolerant proteins: the aryloxyalkanoate dioxygenase-12 (AAD-12) enzyme which provides tolerance to 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) herbicides, the double-mutant 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (2mEPSPS) enzyme encoded by a modified version of the epsps gene from maize (Zea mays), which provides tolerance to glyphosate herbicides, and the phosphinothricin acetyltransferase (PAT) enzyme from Streptomyces viridochromogenes, which provides tolerance to glufosinate herbicides.

A 42-day broiler study was conducted with diets containing toasted DAS-44406-6 soybean meal to compare the nutritional value and safety to a non-transgenic, near-isoline soybean and conventional comparators. The study had five dietary treatments, with 12 pens per treatment, and 10 birds per pen. Broiler performance and carcass parameters were measured over a 6-week period of exposure to diets containing different sources of toasted soybean meal and hulls. Among the 13 traits measured only thigh weight was numerically different (and non significant) between birds fed DAS-44406-6 soybean meal and those fed the isoline soybean meal. The researchers concluded that these results indicate that DAS-44406-6 soybeans are nutritionally equivalent to conventional varieties.

This study was conducted to determine if reduced feed intake in broiler chickens fed a diet of high canola meal (CM) is responsible for the reduced growth performance and whether this lower growth rate can be eliminated by increasing dietary amino acid (AA) levels. Five experimental wheat-based diets were formulated as follows: soybean meal (SBM) diet, high CM diet with normal AA concentration, and high CM diets with 3, 6, or 9% additional AA concentration (Lys, Met+Cys, Thr, Ile, Arg, and Val). Another group of birds was pair-fed with SBM diet to the consumption levels observed by the birds fed CM diet with normal AA. There were six replicates of 17 male, 10-day-old Ross 308 chicks per treatment over grower and finisher periods.

Results indicated that the birds fed the CM diets had reduced feed intake and body weighs, but improved feed conversion ratios (P ‹ 0.01) compared to SBM ad libitum fed birds. The SBM pair-fed birds gained the same weight and exhibited similar feed conversions compared to CM fed birds. Birds fed the additional 9% AA treatment had improved feed conversion (P ‹ 0.01) compared to SBM and CM diets with normal AA. No significant differences were observed in ileal digestibility of DM, energy, crude protein, and AA between CM with normal AA and SBM diets. This study showed that reduced growth of birds fed high CM diets is primarily caused by reduced feed intake. This growth depression could partially be overcome by increasing dietary AA levels.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of heat stress on performance, digestibility, and molecular transporters of amino acids in broilers. Cobb 500 chicks were raised from hatch till 13 days in floor pens. At day 14, 48 birds were randomly and equally divided between a control group (25°C) and a heat stress treatment group (35°C). Birds in both treatment classes were individually caged and fed ad libitum on a diet containing 18.7% CP and 3,560 Kcal ME/Kg Five birds per treatment at one and 12 days post-treatment were euthanized and the Pectoralis major (P. major) and ileum were sampled for gene expression analysis. At day 33, the ileal contents were collected and used for digestibility analysis.

Results confirmed that broilers under heat stress had reduced growth and feed intake compared to control birds. The amino acid consumption and retention were significantly lower in the heat stress group when compared to the control group. The study indicated that the dynamics of amino acid transporters in the P. major and ileum tissues were influenced by heat stress. These changes in amino acid transporters may explain the reduced growth in meat type chickens under heat stress.