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New
Fact Sheets are Available
Two new fact sheets have been published that provide new information
on the proper use of soybean meal in turkey and dairy rations. Dr.
Sheila Scheideler (Department of Animal Science, University of Nebraska)
authored the fact sheet entitled, “Soybean Meal Use in the
U.S. Turkey Industry”. She indicated that the 256 million
turkeys raised in the United States in 2005 consumed about seven
percent of the soybean meal produced. Of interest were the calculations
that the average tom turkey will consume over a 130 pounds of feed
of which about 26 pounds is soybean meal, compared to hens that
are fed to a lighter market weight and consume about 76 pounds of
feed and 15 pounds of soybean meal. She concluded that soybean meal
has a bright future in turkey rations due to its amino acid contribution
to the high protein diet needed to support rapid growth.
Dr. Glen Broderick (U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center, USDA/ARS)
wrote the fact sheet, “Soybean Use-Dairy Cattle”. He
pointed out that soybean meal has long been the standard protein
for dairy cows in North America. The fact sheet discusses how high
producing dairy cows have a very high requirement for metabolizable
protein that can be met by a combination of protein produced by
the microbes in the rumen plus dietary protein that escapes the
rumen undegraded. Soybean meal provides a source of needed amino
acids to promote growth of the microbes and a source of undegraded
protein for digestion in the lower gut. The role of heat-treated
soybean proteins, in the form of roasted soybeans, extruded soybeans,
expelled soybean meal, and specially processed soybean meals, in
meeting the dairy cow’s amino acid requirements were discussed.
Dr. Broderick cited several technical papers that supported the
value of soybean protein in high-producing dairy rations.
Ethanol Production
The Renewable Fuels Association, in a March 5, 2007 press release
reported that demand for ethanol reached 5.4 billion gallons, an
increase of 33 percent, in 2006 over the previous year’s use
levels. U.S. ethanol production was increased by 24.3 percent to
a record 4.86 billion gallons in 2006. The Association also reported
that there are currently 114 ethanol biorefineries nationwide with
the capacity to produce more than 5.6 billion gallons annually.
There are also 78 ethanol refineries and seven expansions under
construction with a combined additional annual capacity of more
than six billion gallons.
What does this announcement have to do with soybean meal use? Plenty,
for each bushel of corn processed into ethanol, the yields are 2.7
gallons of ethanol and 18 pounds of distillers grains. Therefore,
the 2006 ethanol production of 4.86 billion gallons translates into
16 million tons of distillers grains that is available for the nutritionist
to use in formulating livestock and poultry rations. One rule of
thumb is that a ton of distillers dried grains can be substituted
for 31.8 bushels of corn and 190 pounds of soybean meal. One can
develop more accurate values if the protein and energy content of
all ingredients are known. The actual feed use of distillers by-products
will depend on how the nutritionists program their computer with
compositional values and prices for corn, soybean meal and distillers
by-products.
The feed use of distiller’s by-products was featured in the
May 2004 issue of the Soybean Meal INFOsource newsletter (www.soymeal.org).
In that article, “The value of DDG and DDGS compared to soybean
meal is species dependent, meaning that some species (beef cattle
and dairy) can use greater amounts than other species (swine and
poultry). Considerable research has been conducted to clarify the
levels of the various ingredients that can be included in various
rations”. The article went on to indicate: “Soybean
meal’s advantage is its ability to complement cereal grains
in meeting the animal’s, or bird’s, nutritional requirements
for efficient production. The bottom line comes down to composition,
price and availability. If the market demand for ethanol encourages
its production, distillers by-products will be produced. These products
will be used in feeds, or some other use, at some price”.
Greater feed use of DDGS will reduce the need for corn and soybean
meal in some livestock and poultry rations. The popularity of using
ethanol to reduce this nation’s dependence on petroleum will
have a great impact on the feeds used in livestock and poultry operations.
While the availability of some feed ingredients will change, the
need for soybean meal’s amino acids to meet the animal’s
or bird’s requirement for amino acids will continue its importance
in high grain diets.
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PRINTABLE
TEXT VERSION |
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The SOYBEAN
MEAL INFORMATION CENTER is sponsored by the Soybean Checkoff: Including
the checkoff boards from, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, and the United Soybean Board |
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