Recent work published by researchers at Kansas State University suggests that increasing the percentage of soybean meal in swine diets may result in higher-than-expected energy levels in nursery pigs, reports USSoy.org.
The study was based on feeding 2,200 mixed-gender nursery pigs varying amounts of soybean meal over a 21-day period. The findings of those pigs fed soybean meal were then compared with energy levels commonly found in corn diets.
“For a long time soybean meal has been thought to provide about 78% (of) the energy value as corn,” says Bob Goodband, a swine nutritionist with K-State Research and Extension. “So it hasn’t been thought of as a significant source of energy. What we found was that feeding increasing amounts of soybean meal increases the net energy value to approximately 105% and 121% of the energy provided by corn.”
Goodband notes that soybean meal is the primary plant protein source for swine diets in the United States. Soybean meal is a good source of amino acids, which are important for building protein and muscle growth in swine.
By changing the amount of soybean meal in swine diets, the K-State researchers were essentially trying to find the energy value of soybean meal measured by its improvement in feed efficiency for those animals.
