By Scout Nelson
Kansas State University’s swine nutrition team is leading new research into soybean meal quality, focusing on the effects of adding back soybean byproducts. These byproducts—specifically soybean gums and soapstocks—come from oil refinery processes and are sometimes blended back into meals for pigs.
“We conducted a large industry survey, and with the help of the United Soybean Board, we sampled from 15 different processing plants to look at the variation,” said Katelyn Gaffield, K-State assistant research professor.
The study revealed significant variation in colour, viscosity, and fat content in the byproducts. Despite these differences, the crude protein level in soybean meal remained unchanged when the byproducts were reintroduced.
“Essentially, those plants add those byproducts back until they either hit their limit or until they're worried about getting too low of a crude protein content in the soybean meal,” Gaffield explained.
To examine potential effects on pig health and performance, Gaffield’s team conducted a nursery study. The results were promising.
“Ultimately, we found little differences in growth performance when we fed the soybean gums or soapstocks to pigs,” she said. “So, this is a good finding for producers because it indicates that you don't have to worry about sourcing different soybean meals and whether byproducts must be included back.”
There was also a slight increase in average daily gain during the late nursery phase, especially with gums—likely due to higher fat levels in the product.
“We also saw no differences in the fecal dry matter, which indicated it wasn't negatively impacting their health or giving them gastrointestinal tract challenges,” Gaffield added.
The inclusion level was kept low—only around 2%—and researchers noted that any large energy variations were diluted, showing no negative effects. This opens new doors for efficient swine feed formulation.
Photo Credits:istock-srdjan-stepic
Categories: Kansas, Crops, Soybeans, Livestock