2024
Use of Soybean Meal to Balance Amino Acid to Energy Requirement in Growing and Finishing Beef Cattle Diets: Determining Efficiency of Protein (Amino Acid) Use by Growing Calves
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Contributor/Checkoff:
United Soybean Board
Category:
Feed
Keywords:
Amino acidsAnimal nutritionBeefSoy meal
Parent Project:
This is the first year of this project.
Lead Principal Investigator:
Monty Kerley, University of Missouri
Co-Principal Investigators:
Project Code:
24-123-D-A-1-C
Contributing Organization (Checkoff):
United Soybean Board
$109,600
Institution Funded:
Kerley Nutritional Consulting LLC
$109,600
Brief Project Summary:
The proposed research is a continuation of the research program supported previously by Project #2314-107-0101. This research has shown substantial advantage when soybean protein was used to balance beef diets to meet amino acid requirements. The precision of balancing diets to meet amino acid requirement has proven commercially to be accurate. A primary assumption of the equations developed is that efficiency of amino acid use by cattle decreases as body weight increases. It is hypothesized that this relationship was supposed because growth response was measured in diets not balanced to meet amino acid requirement, but rather balanced incorrectly on a metabolizable protein basis. This study will determine the efficiency of protein (amino acid) use by growing calves increasing in body weight. This research is important because the assumption of reduced efficiency of amino acid use at heavier body weights requires greater levels of soybean protein in heavier weight calves. This results in increased cost of gain and less competitive against other protein sources in the diet. If efficiency of use is proven to be higher than currently predicted, soybean protein would be better position
Information And Results
Project Summary

Project Objectives

Project Deliverables

Progress Of Work

Final Project Results

The focus of this project was to study the efficiency that growing beef calves used amino acids from the diet. These data were important to optimize the amount of soybean protein needed in the diet to maximize efficiency. Maximizing efficiency provides beef producers the opportunity to maximize returns and minimize feed costs, simultaneously putting soybean protein in the most advantaged marketing position. Research used to estimate amino acid efficiency of use was based on diets not balanced to meet amino acid requirements. Therefore we hypothesized that efficiency of use might be greater in calves fed diets balanced to meet amino acid requirements. Growth response was used to infer the efficiency that intestinal amino acids were used. One conclusion from this research was that the equation developed to predict amino acid use efficiency was accurate. The second observation of this research was the accuracy of the model used to predict amino acid supply in beef calves. The diets were formulated based on 50, 53 and 57% efficiency of amino acid use for maintenance and growth functions. The growth of calves differed among the three diets. It was inferred that the model was reasonable accurate in predicting amino acid requirements since diets differed by only 3 and 7% in amino acid supply. This research is being used in formulating diets for commercial beef production using soybean protein.

Benefit To Soybean Farmers

There are two foci of this research project. One is increasing use of soybean protein in beef cattle diets. The second is to improve sustainability (financial and environmental) of US beef production. Previous research we conducted demonstrated the potential to formulate diets based on amino acid requirements of growing beef calves. Balancing diets to meet amino acid requirements improved feed efficiency, reduced cost of gain and increased carcass value compared to formulating diets to meet a protein requirement. Commercial application of this approach needed to be evaluated across the array of beef production systems used in the US and amino acid requirements determined across production stages. The specific aim of this study was to determine the efficiency that amino acids are used from the digestive tract by growing calves. This information is important to optimizing growth response in calves.

The United Soybean Research Retention policy will display final reports with the project once completed but working files will be purged after three years. And financial information after seven years. All pertinent information is in the final report or if you want more information, please contact the project lead at your state soybean organization or principal investigator listed on the project.