China’s feed producers are succeeding at meeting the government’s goals of reducing soybean meal in animal diets, according to a Reuters report.
Muyuan Foods, the world’s largest pig producer, has reduced soybean meal in its feed from 10% in 2020 to 7.3% using synthetic amino acids produced from fermented corn starch, Reuters reported. According to Feed Strategy’s Top Feed Companies database, Muyuan is China’s – and the world's – third-largest animal feed producer. The company produced 25.3 million metric tons (mmt) of feed in 2024.
New Hope Liuhe, the world’s second-largest feed producer, has developed soybean-free chicken and duck feeds by fermenting duckweed and other inexpensive protein sources, Reuters reported. In 2024, New Hope Group produced nearly 26 mmt of feed, according to the Top Feed Companies database.
Also according to Reuters, China’s two largest dairy producers have reduced the amount of soybean meal in cattle feed by 20%.
Recommendations for lowering soy inclusion in feed
In April 2021, China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) published guidelines that recommended lowering the amount of corn and soybean meal in pig and poultry feed. The guidelines include recommendations for alternative ingredients, “with the goal of improving the usage of available raw materials and creating a formula that better suits China’s conditions,” Reuters reported at the time.
The guidance recommends rice, cassava rice bran, barley and sorghum as alternatives to corn. Acceptable alternatives to soybean meal include rapeseed meal, cottonseed meal, peanut meal, sunflower meal, distillers dried grains, palm meal, flaxmeal, sesame meal and corn processing byproducts. It also suggests feed formulations based on the region of the country, such as reducing corn by at least 15% in pig rations in the Northeast by using rice and rice bran. In the southern region, it recommends using sorghum, cassava flour, rice bran meal and barley to replace corn in pig feed.
In 2023, MARA announced a series of measures aimed at reducing soybean imports. Key to the three-year action plan were investigations into alternative feed proteins, greater use of grass and other forages, and a controlled reduction in soybean inclusion by 0.5% per year.
