Another Potential Use for Soybean Meal-Abalone Diets
The effect of dietary substitution of casein with fishmeal, soybean meal and crustacean meal on the growth of the abalone (Haliotis discus hannai) Ino was determined. Casein was substituted with: (1) 300 g fishmeal and 200 g soybean meal per kilogram diet, (2) 200 g fishmeal, 200 g soybean meal and 130 g krill meal per kilogram diet, (3) 200 g fishmeal, 200 g soybean meal and 280 g red crab meal per kilogram diet, or (4) 200 g fishmeal, 200 g soybean meal and 130 g shrimp head meal per kilogram diet. Weight gain, final shell length and final shell width of abalone fed with the various substitution feeds were not different from those obtained with the casein control diet. The general conclusion of this study shows that casein can be replaced with a combination of fishmeal, soybean meal, krill meal, crab meal and/or shrimp head meal in the diet without a retardation of growth of abalone.

S.H. Cho and co-workers. 2008. Effect of casein substitution with fishmeal, soybean meal and crustacean meal in the diet of the abalone (Haliotis discus hannai) Ino. Aquaculture Nutr. (14): 61–66.

Still Another Potential Use for Soybean Meal-Feeding of Snails
A feeding experiment was conducted to determine a dietary protein source for the juvenile snail, Semisulcospira gottschei. Eight experimental diets were formulated to contain 31% casein, 42% fish meal, 31% blood meal, 39% meat meal, 46% corn gluten meal, 57% soybean meal, 50% cottonseed meal with 23% casein, and 50% wheat flour as dietary sole protein sources. Snails weighing about 37mg were randomly distributed into a recirculating aquarium system at a density of 100 juveniles per aquarium. Three replicate groups of snails were fed one of the experimental diets ad libitum once in every 2 d for 12 weeks. At the end of the feeding experiment, survival of snails ranged from 77 to 89%, and was not significantly different among the treatments. Snails fed containing 25.3% crude protein deriving from cottonseed meal and casein and the diet containing soybean meal as a protein source grew faster than did snails fed other diets. Growth of snails fed diets containing blood meal, corn gluten meal, and meat meal was the least of snails fed any diet. Crude protein, crude lipid, and ash contents of whole body varied with dietary protein source. The authors suggested that these findings suggest that dietary protein source could affect the body weight and proximate composition of snails. Cottonseed meal and soybean meal might be a more preferable dietary protein source for snail juvenile compared with other ingredients tested.

Lee, S.M. and Anh Pham, M. 2010. Effect of Dietary Protein Sources on Growth and Body Composition of Snail, (Semisulcospira gottschei). J. World Aquaculture Soc. (41): 610–615.

Soybean Meal Information Websites

The mission of the Soybean Meal INFOcenter website (www.soymeal.org) is to provide technical information on soybean meal to the feed manufacturer, professional nutritionists, feed formulator, livestock and poultry producer and the general public interested in learning more about soybean meal. The website is designed to be a “Center” or primary source of key information regarding soybean meal as an important supplemental protein source for livestock, poultry and specialty markets.

The Animal Nutrition Working Group (www.animalag.org/AnimalNutritin.aspx) is a technical advisory panel for the Animal Agriculture Initiative and the Soybean Checkoff consisting of feed industry and consulting animal nutritionists. The sixteen members working group provide technical advice to the United Soybean Board on issues concerning soybeans and animal nutrition. Work focuses on soybean meal and its continuing place as the primary protein source for feed rations. The three top priorities of the Animal Nutrition Working Group are composition, processing and measurement.

Soy Stats® (www.soystats.com) is a reference guide to important soybean facts and figures. The website is a comprehensive resource for statistical information about the U.S. soybean industry and its relationship to world oilseed production.
Soybean meal (www.ingredients101.com) is the product remaining after extracting most of the oil from whole soybeans. The oil may be removed by solvent extraction or by an expeller process in which the beans are heated and squeezed. Soybean meal is high in protein and energy and is one of the most commonly used protein supplements in North America.