Newsletter

June is the time of the year when swine producers from around the world migrate to Des Moines, Iowa for the World Pork Expo. For three days, growers obtain the latest information on swine equipment, new biologicals, new swine genetic crosses, government regulations, and nutritional advances. The Soybean Meal INFOcenter each year looks forward to participating in the trade show and visiting with a major user of soybean meal. Swine (nursery pigs, growing/finishing rations, gestation diets and adult maintenance feeds) account for about 25% of all domestic use of soybean meal. Soybean farmers appreciate the opportunity to service the swine industry in providing a uniform, high-quality protein feed ingredient that makes the formulation of productive swine diets a reality. Together, swine producers and soybean farmers have a common goal of expanding Profitable Swine Production. It is a “win-win” for World’s Pork Producers and our Nation’s Soybean Farmers.

This next graph shows the top 10 U.S. states based on the number of hogs and pigs in 2018. Iowa came in first place, where the inventory stood at around 22.6 million hogs and pigs, as of March 2018 estimate. The total number of hogs and pigs in the U.S. is estimated to be about 72.9 million and up 3% from 2017.

Top 10 States in Hogs and Pigs in 2018

Soybean Planting Season is Here.  The April 10th USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates provide an estimate of the coming season’s soybean/soybean meal supply and demand. While values can change due to weather and market conditions, it would appear that U.S. production of soybeans will be essentially similar to last years based on the number of acres to be planted to soybean and the anticipated soybean yields. USDA economists are also predicting a similar soybean crush and a somewhat larger soybean export volume. Both domestic use and exports of soybean meal are predicted to change much from last year’s values.

U.S. Soybean Supply and Soybean Meal Use

A new updated review of the use of soybean meal in swine diets has been written and is available on the internet. Dr. Han Stein, an international known nutritionist at the University of Illinois has written a comprehensive review on the subject. In the 12-page review he discusses several soybean protein products that are used in swine rations; soybean meal composition; the nutritional value of the meal’s components; soybean meal’s competitive advantages over other feed protein ingredients; and provides about 25 references for further study. The review is one of the most comprehensive, complete and technically advanced reviews on the nutritional benefits of soybean meal in swine feeds written. Dr. Stein concluded with the following comments: “Soybean products are excellent sources of protein for pigs because their amino acid profiles complement those of cereal grains. Amino acids in soy protein are more digestible than amino acids in most other plant proteins, which results in less nitrogen being excreted in the manure from pigs fed diets containing soybean meal than if other protein sources are used. Processing of soybean meal to reduce anti-nutritional factors improves the digestibility of nutrients and energy, and soybean meal that is fermented or enzyme treated may be used in diets fed to weanling pigs as replacement for fishmeal and other animal proteins. Soybean meal contributes approximately the same quantity of digestible energy to the diets as corn, but the energy contribution from full fat soybeans and from extruded expelled soybean meal is greater than from conventional soybean meal. Soybean products have a relatively high concentration of phosphorus and if microbial phytase is used in the diet, the digestibility of the phosphorus in soybean products is relatively high. Inclusion of inorganic sources of phosphorus can, therefore, be reduced if soybean products are used together with microbial phytase. Soybean meal can satisfy the entire requirement for amino acids in diets fed to growing and finishing pigs and to gestating and lactating sows. However, inclusion of conventional soybean meal in diets fed to newly weaned pigs should be restricted to less than 20%, but enzyme treated or fermented soybean meal may be used in these diets as additional sources of amino acids.”

The apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and net energy (NE) values of soybean meal (SBM) and dehulled soybean meal (DSBM) were determined in experiments with male broilers. The composition of the SBM and DSBM was 91.4%, 45,4%, 1.56% and 4,210 kcal/kg; and 91.5%, 47.5, 0.95% and 4050 kcal/kg for dry matter, crude protein, fat and gross energy, respectively. The test soybean meals replaced twenty-five percent of the corn basal diet.

The University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council hosted the Ninth Annual Soybean Symposium on March 29, 2018. The Symposium brought together several experts to discuss soybean quality and trade. The general topics covered in the symposium were:

• Global trade issues impacting soybean supply and demand;
• Market opportunities for soybeans with special value-added traits;
• New developments in breeding soybeans with special traits;
• Observed variation in soybean quality; and
• Relationship of soybean quality to soybean value.

The Symposium provided a forum to discuss global trade issues and the importance of improving the composition of soybeans to better meet the demands of the consumer of soybean products. Of special interest were the discussions related to importance of soybean meal being a primary source of critical amino acids in poultry and swine feeds. Many nutritionists are now formulating rations based on digestible amino acids rather than crude protein. Much of the discussion was directed at the efforts to develop new soybean varieties that are providing traits desired by the user of soybean products. Our challenges are to develop new value-added soybeans with improved composition, accurately and quickly measure those nutritional improvements, and provide an economic incentive to encourage the soybean meal improvement. The attendee’s discussion provided encouragement that with new advances in soybean breeding and refinements in feed formulation soybean meal will continue to be the protein supplement of choice for livestock and poultry producers

Soybean meal is the predominant protein source used in commercial channel catfish feeds because it has the best amino acid profile among all commonly available plant protein feedstuffs. However, soybean meal contain oligosaccharides that are not utilized in fish due to the lack of digestive enzymes and microbial activities in fish guts. These compounds can also interfere with nutrient digestion and promote unhealthy gut microflora.

A study was conducted at Mississippi State to compare a commercially available soybean meal (SBM) to a low oligosaccharide soybean meal (LOSBM) as the main protein sources in channel catfish diets. Four diets were formulated to contain 28 or 32 percent protein with CSBM or LOSBM supplying most of the protein. The experiment involved 20 channel catfish with mean initial weights of 10.0 grams/fish per aquarium; five aquariums per dietary treatment; and the fish were fed to apparent satiation once daily for nine weeks.

Results indicated that regardless of dietary protein levels, the juvenile catfish fed diets containing LOSBM had feed consumption, weight gain and feed conversion similar to those fed diets containing SBM. This experiment supported previous studies that channel catfish utilized SBM well as a protein source and levels of oligosaccharides did not appear to affect the nutrient utilization and growth performance of the channel catfish.

Collaborative research conducted at the University of Illinois and with a commercial company in Germany studied the effects of excessive heat on digestible energy (DE) and metabolizable (ME) and standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of amino acids (AA) in a heat-treated soybean meal (SBM) fed to growing pigs. Nine treatments were prepared using a conventional SBM that was either not autoclaved or autoclaved following one of 8 treatments: 110°С for 15 or 30 min or 150°С for 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 or 18 min. In the first experiment, 20 barrows weighing about 44 kg were assigned to the 10 treatments. A corn-based basal diet and 9 diets containing corn and one of each SBM treatment were formulated. Urine and feces were collected for 5 day. In the second experiment, 10 ileal-cannulated barrows were allotted to the 10 treatments (one N-free diet and nine SBM treatments). Ileal digesta were collected. Results indicated no effects of autoclaving at 110°С on ME or on SID of AA in SBM, but both ME and SID of AA in SBM were less (P ‹ 0.01) if SBM was autoclaved at 150°С compared with 110°С as shown in the following table. At 150°С, there were linear decreases (P ‹ 0.01) in both ME and SID of AA in SBM as heating time increased.

Table 1. Effect of Heat on Metabolizable energy and Standardized Ileal Digestibility of Amino Acids in Soybean Meal