The goal of this project was to show the potential of soybean hulls and meal as ingredients in beef cow diets. The immediate emphasis was to provide information to beef cow-calf producers on ingredients that could be used to offset low to nonexistent pasture and hay supplies due to drought conditions. The scope was then broadened to provide a base of information on use of soybean hulls and meal as an alternative to forage feedstuffs, with the potential to reduce feed input costs and/or improve daily gain. Soybean hulls are an excellent source of energy for cattle and consist primarily of digestible fiber that complements forage fiber digestion. Soybean hulls also consist of rumen-degradable protein which can improve fiber digestion of low quality forages. These points were made to show the nutritional attributes of soybean hulls and meal. An additional point made was feed ingredient cost. An attribute beef producers give to forage (hay and pasture) is low cost per ton. However, it was shown that feed ingredient cost per unit of digestible energy from soybean hulls was competitive and potentially lower than forage. I have used this information to support building cow diets for drought and in building diets for confined beef cows.

Benefits to US soybean production is increased outlets for soybean products. The beef cow population in the US is estimated at 29 million head with approximately 10% heifer retention. This population represents the potential market. Confined cow feed, particularly during winter, is increasing. Not necessarily of benefit to soybean farmers but a benefit to beef production is the better nutrition that can occur via use of soybean hulls and meal.