Soybean meal (SBM) is the main source of protein and amino acids (AA) in diets for monogastrics. Still, its quality and nutritional value can fluctuate based on regional agronomic factors and processing. Consequently, this study evaluated the nutrient and energy composition of SBM from North Carolina (NC), Western and Eastern US Corn Belt, Brazil (BRA), and Argentina (ARG). Samples of solvent-extracted SBM produced in NC from soybeans grown in NC in 2020 (n=35) and 2021 (n=45) were collected and analyzed by NIRS with 15 replicates per sample. Proximate composition, total AA content, energy, and quality parameters were determined using AMINONIR® (Evonik) calibration curves. The nutrient and energy values of SBM produced in the Eastern (n = 74 and 94) and Western (n = 150 and 220) Corn Belt regions in the USA, BRA (n = 2,874 and 9,497), and ARG (n = 87 and 110) were obtained from the AMINONIR® 2020 and 2021 reports, respectively. Nutrient and energy data were analyzed in a one-way ANOVA and means separated using Tukey’s HSD test. Significant differences between SBM of different origins were observed for all parameters evaluated (P<0.001). The NC SBM had the highest ME values for poultry, between 29 and 218, and 57 to 167 Kcal/kg more for 2020 and 2021, respectively. Also for swine 170 Kcal/kg more in 2020 and 33 to 200 Kcal/kg more in 2021 were observed in NC SBM compared to all other sources. SBM produced in NC also had the highest crude protein content in both years, between 0.18 and 1.79% in 2020 and 0.72 and 1.65% in 2021 more than other SBM sources. NC SBM had slightly lower total AA content (P<0.001) than BRA SBM. The AA of NC SBM were between 0.01 and 0.06% points lower than BRA SBM, but higher than ARG and Western US SBM and very similar to Eastern US SBM in lysine and TSAA. The arginine content was 0.05 and 0.11% points better in NC SBM than BRA SBM. Digestible AA for poultry and swine followed the same pattern since AMINONIR use similar AA digestibility coefficients per specie, independently of contents of other nutrients.
In conclusion, the results of these analyses suggested that SBM derived from soybeans cultivated in NC during 2020 and 2021 exhibited superior nutrient and energy values, along with competitive AA content for poultry and swine feeds.