– Dr.Jeff Lehmkuhler, Extension Professor, University of Kentucky
The current low grain commodity prices have sparked several questions regarding feeding soybeans to beef cattle. There are several factors to consider when deciding whether to feed or sell beans to the elevator. The following will touch on a few of these items to consider when making that decision.
Let’s first review the nutrient content of soybeans on a dry matter basis. In general, soybeans are used as a protein supplement as they contain approximately 40% crude protein. Soybeans also contain a significant amount of oil, near 20%, which makes them an energy supplement as well. Soybeans contain an inverted calcium to phosphorus ration which may require the diet to be supplemented with calcium. Looking at the calcium to phosphorus ratio is particularly important when feeding grain-based feedstuffs such as corn silage, wheatlage, or grain-heavy rations such as finishing diets.
The oil content is the diet inclusion limiter. Excessive unsaturated oil can result in reduced forage digestibility. Research suggests that total diets containing near or greater than 6% total fat/oil can lead to reduced microbial fermentation of dietary fiber. Additionally, higher levels of dietary fat/oil reduce passage rates of feed through the gastrointestinal tract. Our forages may contain 2% which would mean soybeans would be limited to contribute an additional 3% to the total diet. For mature cows with an expected dry matter intake, the amount of soybeans fed would need to be limited to not more than 4 pounds as-fed.
To feed or not to feed is really going to be dependent upon the price one may receive at the elevator and the cost of an alternative feed. These prices can be used to calculate the cost per unit of protein from the feedstuffs. As an example, fall soybean prices are running in the $9.80 to $10.30 per bushel price range. If one backs out the grain hauling costs of say $0.35 per bushel, the soybean price used for comparison may be $9.75 per bushel accounting for the haul expense. Let’s say that we can get dried distillers grains delivered to the farm at $235 per ton with a protein content of 28% DM basis. The price per pound of protein from both feedstuffs are the same at $0.47. Thus, if protein was the only consideration, feeding soybeans would be just as cost effective as dried distillers grains.
Soybeans contain more oil and subsequently more energy than dried distillers. To make a better comparison, we need to account for the protein and energy from feedstuffs. One way to do this is to use reference feedstuffs and valuing the protein and unit of energy based on these reference feeds. Corn is often used as the energy reference feed and either soybean meal or dried distillers grains may be used for protein. Using corn with a price of $5.05 per bushel if bought as feed ($180/ton) and a price of $235 per ton for dried distillers grains, soybeans would need to be less than $7.26 per bushel to consider feeding. Under this scenario, selling beans at the elevator and feeding corn/dried distillers grains may be more cost effective when considering a backgrounding ration.
In summary, often feeding soybean requires the beans to receive a significant discount at the elevator to be priced into diets. The oil content of the whole bean limits the amount that can be offered in the forage-based diets. If you are interested in learning more about feeding whole soybeans to beef cattle read the fact sheet ASC-245 Feeding Soybeans to Beef Cattle which can be downloaded at https://publications.mgcafe.uky.edu/sites/publications.ca.uky.edu/files/ASC245.pdf . You can also reach out your local county Extension office or consult with your nutritionist for more information.