Serving what your customers demand is good for business. For American soybean farmers, meeting the needs of their biggest customer means growing consistent, high-quality soybeans for the animal agriculture industry.
Domestically, animal agriculture uses about 97 percent of the soybean meal consumed in the United States. International customers, who buy more than half of all U.S. soy, also feed most soybean meal to animals. This makes it easy to see why it’s so important to the soy checkoff to increase the value of U.S. soybean meal.
Which factors are most important to companies in the animal agriculture industry when it comes to selecting feed ingredients? According to Ken Bryant, a swine nutritionist with Cargill Animal Nutrition, it depends on the type of animal being fed, but price, amino acid profiles, nutritional value and consistency are usually among the key considerations.
“We set amino acid specifications for (hog) diets, then look at various feedstuffs available and how they would meet that requirement,” Bryant says. “The cost of the soy product relative to its nutrient content determines how it ranks in the formulation.”
Athula Mahagamage, Ph.D., a consultant who works with the U.S. Soybean Export Council in Sri Lanka, says there are many appealing aspects of U.S. soybean meal.
“Demand for U.S. soybean meal is growing internationally and there is a good customer base for it,” Mahagamage says. “Pricing is a key influencer, and quality is also important.
“Another thing international customers like about U.S. soybean meal is the high level of follow-up service they receive. This service includes assistance and guidance on farm management, feed formulation and solutions to control potential problems.”
While soybeans grown in the United States are generally known to produce high-quality meal for animal feeding, there is always room for improvement.
“We understand that soybean meal is not soybean meal is not soybean meal and that it can vary,” Bryant says. “We would like to see continued emphasis on the consistency of the product. Both from a processing standpoint and from a genetic standpoint – to reduce the variability of the product. I would say the higher the nutrient density, the more competitive the product will be against other options.”
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