Little, K. L., B. M. Bohrer, T. Maison, Y. Liu, H. H. Stein and D. D. Boler. 2015. Effects of feeding canola meal from high-protein or conventional varieties of canola seeds on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and cutability of pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 93:1284-1297. Link to full text (.pdf)

Liu, Y., M. Song, T. Maison, and H. H. Stein. 2014. Effects of protein concentration and heat treatment on concentration of digestible and metabolizable energy and on amino acid digestibility in four sources of canola meal fed to growing pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 92:4466-4477. Link to full text (.pdf)

Maison, T. and H. H. Stein. 2014. Digestibility by growing pigs of amino acids in canola meal from North America and 00-rapeseed meal and 00-rapeseed expellers from Europe. J. Anim. Sci. 92:3502-3514. Link to full text (.pdf)

Canola meal can be used as a source of protein in swine diets, but conventional canola meal contains less protein than soybean meal. In recent years, new varieties of canola have been developed with seeds that contain more protein and less fiber than conventional canola seeds. The meal from these new varieties of canola has a protein content similar to that of soybean meal.

Previous research at the University of Illinois demonstrated that diets containing at least 30% high protein canola meal (CM-HP) or conventional canola meal (CM-CV) could be fed to nursery pigs without reducing growth performance. It has not yet been determined how much soybean meal can be replaced by conventional or high protein canola meal in diets for growing-finishing pigs without affecting growth performance or carcass characteristics. Therefore, an experiment was performed to determine the optimum inclusion rate of high-protein and conventional meal in diets fed to growing and finishing pigs.

Maison, T. and H. H. Stein. 2013. Amino acid digestibility in canola meal, 00-rapeseed meal, and 00-rapeseed expellers fed to growing pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 91(Suppl. 2):27 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)

Due to the increasing demand for protein for livestock feeding, the interest in using canola meal in diets fed to swine is increasing. Canola meal is a product of the rapeseed plant, an abundant oilseed crop grown in Canada, the Northern United States, and parts of Europe. Recently, new varieties of canola that contain more protein and less fiber than conventional canola have been selected. The de-oiled meals of these varieties have a concentration of crude protein that is close to that of de-hulled soybean meal.

It has been speculated that changes in the traditional pre-press solvent extraction oil removal procedure may improve the quality of canola meal. The traditional procedure involves use of heat to desolventise the de-oiled meal, but a new procedure allows for production of canola meal using a low-temperature procedure.

There is no information about the digestibility of energy in high protein canola meal. There also is no data comparing the digestibility of energy in canola meal processed at low temperatures versus high temperatures. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to compare the concentrations of digestible energy (DE) and metabolizable energy (ME) in high protein, high-temperature-processed, low-temperature-processed, and commercial canola meals, and to compare these values with the DE and ME in corn and soybean meal.

Due to the increasing demand for protein for livestock feeding, the interest in using canola meal in diets fed to swine is increasing. Canola meal is a product of the rapeseed plant, an abundant oilseed crop grown in Canada, the Northern United States, and parts of Europe. The oil is extracted for use in cooking and agriculture, leaving a high-protein meal that can be used in livestock feeding. Although the concentration of protein and amino acids and the amino acid profile of canola meal is less desirable than that of soybean meal, its relatively low cost may make it an attractive option for producers. Recently, new varieties of canola that contain more protein and less fiber have been selected. The de-oiled meals of these varieties have a concentration of crude protein that is close to that of de-hulled soybean meal.  However, there is no information about the digestibility of amino acid in high protein canola meal when fed to pigs.

It has also been speculated that changes in the traditional pre-press solvent extraction oil removal procedure may improve the quality of canola meal. The traditional procedure involves use of heat to desolventise the de-oiled meal, but a new procedure allows for production of canola meal using a low-temperature procedure. There are, however, no comparative data between meals produced using the traditional high temperature procedure and meals produced using the low-temperature procedure.