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Table 1.

Provides total U.S. feed production by species: (*) (2013)

Table 2.

Soybean Meal Use by Species (**)

It is interesting to compare these values to the domestic use of soybean meal (Table 2). The poultry industry also uses about half of the soybean meal produced followed by swine; these species requiring a quality protein for efficient production. The amino acid composition of soybean meal complements the amino acids in feed grains to develop rations that support optimum performance.

The goal of feed formulation is to combine various feed ingredients which contain varying amount of nutrients to achieve the animal requirements for these nutrients. A report in the March/April issue of Feed Management discusses the impact of natural nutrient variability on feed formation. The natural variation in nutient composition of a feedstuff can reduce the ability to accurately formulate a ration that precisely meets the animal’s requirement for optimum performance. The author discusses the impact of nutrient variability on animal performance and reasons that this natural variation in a feed ingredient can often be the reason why some groups of animals fail to meet performance standards even though the rations formualtion are similar to those achiving greater productivity.

The paper also discusses standard deviations: Assuming a feed ingredient’s nutrient compositon is normal and follows a standard bell-shaped curve; 68% of the ingredient’s analyses will be within one standard deviation of the “true mean” and 95% of the analyzed values within 2 standard deviations within that “true mean”. Understanding natural variation in an ingredient’s compositon is an esssential for formualting productive rations. Some feed ingredients are by nature quite variable and present many challenges in developing formuated feeds that precisely meet the minumum nutrient standards. Reviewer’s note: Soybean meal has normal variation in nutrient levels due to differences in growing environments, seed genetics, and processing variables. The soybean industry benefits from having several large soybean processing companies that purchase and blend soybeans from a wide geographical region and a defined/precise large-volume crushing operation that results in a consistent meal that is one of the feed industry’s most uniform products.

An Energy Values for Corn and Soybean Feed Ingredients experiment was conducted to determine the digestibility of energy and the concentrations of DE and ME in two sources of enzyme-treated soybean meal (ESBM-1 and ESBM-2), extruded soybean meal (SBM-EX), soy protein concentrate (SPC), conventional dehulled soybean meal (SBM-CV), conventional 00 expelled rapeseed meal (RS), and in a fermented co-product mixture (FCM) fed to growing pigs. Sixty-four barrows weighing about 20kg were allotted into a randomized complete block design with 8 diets and 8 pigs per diet and fed a corn-based diet or a ration containing corn and the test ingredients. Feces and urine were collected for 5 d after a 5 d adaptation period.

The apparent total track digestibility of gross energy (GE) in corn was not different from SBM-CV, but was greater (P < 0.05) than in the other ingredients. The concentration of digestible energy (DE) in corn, ESBM-1, ESBM-2, SBM-EX, SPC, SBM-CV, RSE, and FCM was 3,864, 4,349, 4,121, 4,432, 4,460, 4,303, 3,793 and 3,610 kcal/kg DM, respectively, with a pooled SEM of 91 kcal/kg. The DE in corn was greater (P <0.05) than in FCM, but less (P < 0.05) than in SBM-EX, SPC, ESBM-1, and SBM-CV. The concentration of metabolizable energy (ME) in corn, ESBM-1, ESBM-2, SBM-EX, SPC, SBM-CV, RSE, and FCM was 3,780, 4,158, 3,782, 4,240, 4,226, 4,044, 3,522, and 3,364 kcal/kg DM, respectively, with a pooled SEM of 135 kcal/kg. The ME of corn (3,780 kcal/kg DM) was less (P < 0.05) than in all soybean products except ESBM-2, but greater (P < 0.05) than in the rapeseed products. It was concluded that there are differences among processed soybean products, with some having greater concentrations of DE and ME than others. The concentrations of DE and ME in all soybean products used in this experiment were greater than in rapeseed expellers and the fermented co-product mixture.

Research at South Dakota State University has previously shown that standard ileal digestibility (SID) values for fish meal and microbially-converted soybean meal (MCSBM) were similar. This study was designed to evaluate MCSBM as a replacement for FM in weaned pig diets. The experiment involved 184 barrows and 152 gilts weaned at 21d of age. The experimental diets were: 1) Control diet containing corn, soybean meal and whey; 2) Control diet + acidifier; 3) Control diet + fish meal; 4) Fish meal+ acidifier; 5) Control diet+ MCSBM; and 6) MCSBM + acidifier. The fishmeal and MCSBM were included at 7.5 and 5.0%, respectively. The pigs were fed the experimental diets for 21 days and fed a common diet for an additional 14 days. Daily gain and gain:feed from day 0 to 7, 8 to 21, and 22 to 35 were not different between treatments. Daily feed intake tended to be greater (P = 0.09) in pigs fed fish meal compared to the control diet (954 vs. 769g/d, respectively), similarly for fish meal compared with MCSBM + acid (954 vs. 756 g/d) from d 22 to 28. Performance was similar for pigs fed fish meal or MCSBM, thus MCSBM may be an alternative to fish meal in nursery diets; however, it is important to note neither fish meal nor MCSBM provided additional benefit over solvent extracted soybean meal in the control treatment.

The feeding value of vegetable oils for weaning pigs studied a total of 210 pigs (PIC 327 × 1050, initially 13.1 kg BW and 46 days of age) were used in a 21-day trial to evaluate the effect of oil source and level on nursery pig growth performance. The two oil sources included a commercial source of soybean oil (Grain States Soya Inc., West Point, NE), and a proprietary source of refined corn oil originating from the ethanol industry (Corn Oil ONE, LLC Pleasant Hill, IA). Five experimental diets were formulated: a control diet without added oil, diets with 2.5 or 5% added soybean oil, or diets with 2.5 or 5% added corn oil. Soybean oil and corn oil were assigned a NE value of 7,545 and 7,549 kcal/kg, respectively for diet formulation.

Results of this 21-day study indicated no performance differences between oil sources or level interactions. Increasing corn or soybean oil had no effect on average daily gain or final body weight; however, increasing corn oil or soybean oil decreased (linear; P < 0.05) average daily feed intake, which resulted in improved (linear; P < 0.01) feed efficiency. Caloric efficiency (Mcal net energy/kg of gain) was not affected by oil source or level, indicating the energy values assigned to the oil sources were accurate. This study also shows the benefits of adding either corn or soybean oil in late-phase nursery diets to improve feed utilization.

This soybean meal use shrimp study evaluated the nutritional value and utilization of soybean meal (SBM) as a feed ingredient for shrimp. The SBM was specially processed using a solid-state fermentation with Bacillus subtilis E20 approach. Compared with SBM, the fermentation process increased the protein content of fermented-SBM by 19%, accompanied by an increase of 18.75% in the total hydrolyzed amino acids. The free amino acid profile and content in FSBM also significantly increased compared to SBM. The researchers concluded that FSBM is a good substitute for fish meal (FM) in a diet with 37% protein and 7% lipid content. They reported that the maximal replacement levels of FM in shrimp diet with SBM and FSBM were 37.42% and 61.67%, respectively, based on the feed efficiency. The results of this study confirms B. subtilis E20-FSBM can be a potential protein source used as a replacement for FM in shrimp diet.

During the past few years the production of distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) has increased and DDGS have become a major source of protein and energy in selected livestock rations. The purpose of this experiment was to determine if the concentration of digestible energy (DE) and metabolizable energy (ME) in DDGS produced in the Midwest. Samples of DDGS from 11 ethanol plants in Illinois, 4 ethanol plants in Indiana, 4 ethanol plants in Iowa, 2 ethanol plants in Missouri, and 2 ethanol plants in Wisconsin were obtained and used to formulate swine diets. Twenty four barrows (weighing about 28kg) were randomly allotted to 1 of 24 dietary treatments in a 24 × 8 Youden square design with 24 diets and 8 periods. Each period consisted of a seven-day diet adaptation period followed by feces and urine collection.

The results of this study indicated that the DDGS sources were highly variability; the coefficient of variation for ADF, NDF, and lignin were 18.01, 10.09, and 34.74%, respectively. There was a wide range of particle size (266 to 930 mm) and bulk density (368 to 548 g/L) among the 23 sources of DDGS. The acid hydrolyzed ether extract ranged from 5.3 to 10.6% indicating that some ethanol plants were centrifuging solubles to remove the corn oil from the solubles. The DE, ME, ATTD of GE, and ATTD of N in DDGS were different (P < 0.05) among sources. Correlation coefficients among and between chemical and physical components and DE and ME were determined. Prediction equations for DE and ME in DDGS were generated, but the accuracy with which DE and ME could be predicted was relatively low. The researchers concluded that sources of DDGS procured in the Midwest states vary in concentration of ether extract, and more research is needed to generate prediction equations for estimating these energy measurements in DDGS.