Are you still buying feed based on crude protein? You’re likely not only paying too much but also over- or undersupplying nutrients in animal diet formulations.

Although much of the world still relies on crude protein as a purchasing driver for feed, experts and leading formulators know that smart and effective animal nutrition selection goes far deeper. Factors such as amino acid profiles and nutrient composition impact overall digestibility and signal the true value of soybean meal for formulators and for animals.

U.S. soy delivers improved feed formulation consistency, better animal performance and superior overall value to the bottom line. For swine, poultry, aquaculture and more, U.S. soybeans provide an overall advantage compared to other origins like Brazil and Argentina. Time and again, formulators see the results in whole soybean quality, processing consistency, amino acid profile, digestibility and more. In comparative studies and research, U.S. soybean meal has proved to be the most sustainable, highest quality choice.

Ideal Amino Acid Profile
Animals need at least five essential amino acids for optimum health, and U.S. soy has an advantage for the main five not only in composition but also in consistency, with less variability over time.

Nutritionists look for consistency of ingredients in many forms: composition, nutritional value, physical description, quality and uniformity. That consistency is a key differentiator that U.S. soy can provide.

But it’s more than that. Soybean meal value is also based on digestibility—and U.S. soy excels there, too.

Superior Digestibility
Amino acid digestibility depends on many factors: anti-nutritional factors, genetics, heat treatment, moisture, processing methods, and storage. Growing conditions and climate also impact digestibility, and soy originating from the U.S. has an advantage in swine and poultry feed over soy from Argentinian and Brazilian competitors.

When compared based on digestibility coefficients and the digestible content of five essential amino acids (Cysteine, Lysine, Methionine, Threonine and Tryptophan), U.S. soy is superior in both the content of SID amino acids and the SID digestibility of each amino acid. (SID, or Standardized Ileal Digestibility, is the most accurate measurement of amino acid digestibility for poultry and swine.)

More Quality, Less Damage
Quality and consistency also impact digestibility, and U.S. soy excels there, too. This is shown in comparative studies of the four processing indicators nutritionists most commonly use to evaluate soybean meal quality: KOH solubility, protein dispersibility index, reactive lysine to total lysine ratio and trypsin inhibitor activity. In each, U.S. soy has an advantage.

Other regions harvest soybeans at a higher moisture content than the sub-14 percent target used for U.S. soy. This not only impacts overall quality but also requires heat treatment to dry whole beans for storage. In turn, the damage rate for soybeans from Brazil, for example, is much higher than in U.S. soy. In monthly export testing samples, Brazilian soybeans had four to six times more damage than U.S. soybeans, and total moisture content for Brazil was 12 percent higher than for U.S. soy. This year, we are seeing an increased number of complaints and reports of high heat damage in Brazilian soybeans.

Overall, U.S. soy provides less variability and a more uniform, predictable product, critical for formulating animal diets.

Sustainability at Our Roots
As preferences evolve, public consciousness increases and companies and countries implement more regulations around sustainable sourcing and greenhouse gas emissions reduction, ingredient origin takes on new importance. For generations, farmers in Illinois have relied on sustainable practices to produce soy and continue the legacy of their farms.

And the results show their commitment to sustainability. U.S. soy has the lowest carbon footprint compared to soy from Argentina and Brazil and other plant proteins such as peas, chickpeas and broad beans, as well as other sources of edible oil such as rapeseed oil, palm oil and sunflower oil, according to Blonk Consultants Agrifootprint.

Since 1980, U.S. soy farmers have reduced greenhouse gas emissions per bushel by 42 percent, and their sustainability goals include an additional 10 percent reduction by 2025.

Between 1997 to 2017, U.S. forest land increased by 742,000 hectares while crop land decreased by 3.6 million hectares, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Natural Resources Inventory conducted in 2017. And approximately 15 percent of U.S. farmland is currently set aside for conservation, forest development and wildlife habitat.

Sustainability is at the root of every feed ingredient produced from U.S. soy as we learn to do more with less.

From its optimal nutritional bundle to the superior animal performance that comes with feeding it, U.S. soy is the premier choice for animal nutrition worldwide.