Soybean meal (SBM) is the major source of amino acids in diets for swine throughout the world. However, in addition to providing indispensable amino acids to diets, SBM also provides energy to the diets. Diets are often formulated based on the net energy (NE) in each individual ingredient using a linear programming computer software. Therefore, the NE for each ingredient is important for the value the ingredient is assigned in the formulation. However, the NE for SBM that is used by most feed formulators was generated many years ago, but results of recent research indicate that current U.S. SBM may provide more NE than previously estimated, which potentially results in an increased estimation of the value of SBM in diets for pigs. There is, therefore, a need for confirming or updating the NE value for SBM. As a consequence, the objective of this experiment was to test the hypothesis that the NE in U.S. SBM fed to modern genotypes of pigs is greater than the value that is currently used in feed formulation.

Muñoz Cristhiam J., Hans H Stein. 2019. PSIV-11 Description of a novel Calorimetric unit to determine net energy in group housed pigs. Journal of Animal Science, Volume 97, Issue Supplement_2, July 2019, Pages 178–179. (Abstr.). Link to abstract.

Sotak-Peper, K. M., J. C. González-Vega, and H. H. Stein. 2015. Concentrations of digestible, metabolizable, and net energy in soybean meal produced in different areas of the United States and fed to pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 93:5694-5701. Link to full text (.pdf)

Jaworski, N. W., D. Liu, D. Li, and H. H. Stein. 2014. Digestible, metabolizable, and net energy in diets containing 0, 15, or 30% wheat bran fed to growing pigs. J. Anim. Sci 92(E-Suppl. 2):224 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)

One factor that affects the chemical composition of soybeans and soybean meal is where the beans were grown. For instance, soybeans grown in the northern United States contain less crude protein than soybeans grown further south. As a result, soybean meal produced from beans grown in the Northern United States often contain less crude protein than soybean meal produced from beans grown further south. However, less is known about how the concentrations of digestible (DE), metabolizable (ME), and net (NE) energy differs among meals produced from soybeans grown in different areas of the U.S. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to determine the digestibility of energy and concentrations of DE, ME, and NE in soybean meal produced from soybeans grown in different areas of the U.S. and fed to growing pigs.

Kil, D. Y., F. Ji, L. L. Stewart, R. B. Hinson, A. D. Beaulieu, G. L. Allee, J. F. Patience, J. E. Pettigrew, and H. H. Stein. 2013. Effects of dietary soybean oil on pig growth performance, retention of protein, lipids, and energy, and the net energy of corn in diets fed to growing or finishing pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 91:3283-3290. Link to full text (.pdf)

Stein, H. H. 2012. The nutritional quality of feed ingredients. Pages 69-77 in Proceedings of the Chinese Swine Industry Symposium, Shanghai, October 24-26, 2012. Link to full text (.pdf)

Kil, D. Y., F. Ji, R. B. Hinson, A. D. Beaulieu, L. L. Stewart, G. L. Allee, J. F. Patience, J. E. Pettigrew, and H. H. Stein. 2009. Comparison of measured values for NE in diets and ingredients fed to pigs and values predicted from European energy systems. J. Anim. Sci. 87 (E-Suppl. 3):100 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)

Kil, D. Y., F. Ji, R. B. Hinson, A. D. Beaulieu, L. L. Stewart, G. L. Allee, J. F. Patience, J. E. Pettigrew, and H. H. Stein. 2009. Net energy of soybean oil and choice white grease in diets fed to growing or finishing pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 87 (E-Suppl. 3):99 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)