Reducing the costs of

broiler production
We need an additional protein meal to
support soybean meal:

What will it be?

David Creswell
• It is obvious to everyone in the Asian poultry feed industries that soybean
meal is now, and will continue to be, the major protein meal, supplying the
amino acids and energy to complement those in the grain

• However it may not be so obvious how soybean meal is becoming an even

more important meal in broiler feeds than it has been in the past

• India is a good example of this

• In the mid- 1980’s when I first started working in India, soybean meal
inclusion in broiler feeds was not more than about 6-8%
• At that time, broiler feed production was around 2 million tonnes, so
soybean meal usage was about 140,000 tonnes annually

• These days, all broiler feeds in that country are high nutrient density,
and soybean meal inclusion is in the range of 20-30%

• With broiler feed production at say 15 million tonnes, the broiler feed
industry now uses about 3.75 million tonnes soybean meal annually,
and growing by 15% annually
• Pakistan is the only Asian country that uses low levels of
soybean meal in broiler feeds, and even that may be
starting to change
There are several reasons for the increasing reliance on soybean meal, but 2
reasons that may not be so apparent are:

•Availability of other protein meals: There simply are no other protein meals that
are available in sufficient quantities that they could be major sources of protein

•Economics of other protein meals: Many of the protein meals that are available
may have been economic 20-30 years ago, when medium density broiler feeds
were produced in most countries
 • But they are no longer economic for inclusion in high nutrient density diets, such
as we produce now

• This is due to their low energy level, and the high cost of feed oil

• Good examples of such meals would be sunflower meal, groundnut meal,

rapeseed meal, palm kernel meal and copra meal

• We often read articles suggesting we should use more by-products and

alternative meals to reduce reliance on soybean meal and to reduce feed
costs

• This is not correct!

• The reality is there are very few such meals, and quite often what are
available are not economic

• So we are dependent, and will continue to be dependent, on soybean

meal, most of which will be imported from outside the region

• Most Asian countries import all of their (feed) soybean and soybean
meal requirements

• These include Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia,

Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, Philippines, and Korea
• There is only one Asian country which exports soybean
meal, and that is India

• China imports an increasing percentage of its soybean

requirements

• Even then they have the capacity to export a maximum of

3-4 million tonnes, which is a small amount of the total
requirements of the region
• Perhaps 90% of the soybeans and soybean meal
used in Asian markets is imported into the region

• This is from the USA, Argentine and Brazil

Future for current alternative protein meals:

• There is a large range of protein meals that are available and will
continue to be used in some Asian markets

• However none of them can be major protein meals for the whole
region

• These meals are listed in table 1, together with their limitations

• All the current protein meals we have to complement soybean meal

are either not available in large enough quantities, or are too low in
energy, or both
Alternative protein meals in Asian markets

Protein meal Availability in Asian Limitation Economics

markets (in high nutrient dense
broiler feeds)
Meat and bone meal Medium Price Now less economic with use
of phytase
Fishmeal Medium Price Generally not economic

Poultry meal Low Price Generally not economic

Rapeseed meal Low Energy level, Uneconomic

antinutritionals
Sunflower meal Medium Energy level Uneconomic

Copra meal Low Energy level, low Uneconomic

digestibility

Palm kernel meal Medium Energy level, low Uneconomic

digestibility
Cottonseed meal Medium Energy level, Uneconomic
antinutritionals
Sesame meal Low Energy level Uneconomic

Groundnut meal Low Energy level Uneconomic

 Do we need another protein meal?

• I suggest that we do need another protein meal

• This would be to complement soybean meal, and lessen our dependence on

soybean meal from the only 3 countries that can provide them

• The meal does not need to be as nutrient rich as soybean meal

• By that judgement, there is probably no such meal

• But it should be able to be used at a medium level of 10-15% without

reducing broiler performance and it should have a good energy level, in
order to be economic
 What will this meal be?

• The energy level of this meal should be equal to or greater than that
of soybean meal, so as not to require increased addition of
expensive oil

• It is most likely to be based on canola (Brassica napus)

• Canola is the only crop grown in sufficient quantities worldwide that

could provide the basis for a major protein meal in broiler diets

• There are simply no other such meals

• Production of canola worldwide is close to 50 million tonnes, and is

the second oilseed produced after soybeans (225 million tonnes)
• Canola production has been increasing rapidly over the past 10 years

• As there is little canola produced in Asia, this meal will need to be imported
into the region

• However that is similarly true for soybeans. There is no getting around the
fact that Asia cannot produce its required protein meals

• However, those Asian countries that grow old style (high glucosinolate, high
erucic acid) rape could replace these with canola varieties (low
glucosinolate, low erucic acid) and that could then be used to produce high
quality protein meals
• These are referred to as “double zero” varieties. These countries are
China, India and Pakistan

• Similarly, those countries that are net importers of oil (for human
consumption), could import canola seeds instead of, or in addition to
soybeans or palm oil, and do oil extraction, producing a protein meal
as a by-product

• Note that the oil content of canola seeds is double that of soy (40%
vs. 20%)
• Pakistan does this now, and Nepal has started to
do it

• India, China, Thailand, Philippines and several

other countries could also do this
 What sort of meals will be produced from
Canola (or Juncea)?

Five types of meals are possible:

1. Solvent extracted meal. This is the current canola meal, with 36-37% protein,
and 2000 Kcal/kg ME. Its major limitation is the high fibre and consequent low
energy level for broilers

2. Expeller extracted meal. This would be 34-35% protein, 8-9% oil and 2600-
2700 kcal/kg ME. Due to the high energy level, and high oil level, it would be a
more useful meal than solvent extracted canola meal. This meal is currently
produced in a number of countries, including Australia. This meal is also being
produced in Nepal, from imported seeds
3. Full fat canola. This would be an extremely high energy meal, with as high as
4,750 kcal/kg ME. Protein would be 22%. The canola seeds require grinding for
good nutrient utilization

4. Modified canola meals with Canadian technology.

Higher protein, lower fibre canola meals are being developed in Canada, the
largest producer of canola.
This involves liquid fractionation.
The company is MCN BioProducts.
Meals with 60-70 % protein will be produced, with the elimination or reduction of
phytate and other antinutritionals.
An example of one of these meals is shown in table 2.
5. Malaysian technology. Work is ongoing by a Malaysian company aiming to
produce a canola meal with 2500-2600 kcal/kg ME and digestible amino acids
similar to soybean meal
Composition of the new MCN canola meal
Item CanPro IP-60 Insoluble protein

Dry Matter, % 94.8

Protein, % 60.8
Crude fibre, % 7.75
Ether extract, % 2.80
Phytate, % 0
Ash, % 6.1
Glucosinolates, micromoles/g 2.59
GE, kcal/kg 4,833
ME, kcal/kg 3,500
Amino acids, total, %
Lysine 3.19
Methionine 1.43
MC 2.33
Tryptophan 0.74
Threonine 2.68
Arginine 3.97
Isoleucine 2.74
Valine 3.60
Glycine 3.53
Glycine + serine 6.50
Minerals, %
Calcium 0.70
Phosphorus 0.91
Available P 0.91
Sodium 0.66
Composition of several canola meals

Item Solvent extracted canola Expeller extracted Full fat canola

meal canola meal
ME, Kcal/kg 2000 2650 4600
Protein, % 36 34 22
Lysine 2.20 2.05 1.36
Methionine 0.70 0.70 0.48
MC 1.35 1.55 1.04
Tryptophan 0.50 0.48 0.29
Threonine 1.70 1.55 1.06
Arginine 2.20 2.10 1.32
Isoleucine 1.40 1.40 0.88
Valine 2.00 1.85 1.14
Calcium 0.67 0.67 0.40
Total Phosphorus 1.00 1.00 0.60
Available Phosphorus 0.40 0.35 0.25
Sodium 0.09 0.09 0.02
Fat 1.8 9.0 38
Crude Fibre 12.0 13 8.2
Ash 7.2 7.0 4.0
 Summary:

• It is suggested that Asian markets will need a second protein meal to

support soybean meal for broiler feeds in the future

• This is most likely to be from canola, as it is the only crop grown in

sufficient quantities worldwide to provide for such a meal

• Several types of meals derived from canola are possible

• Some of these meals are available now, while others are currently
being developed

• The Asian feed industries should start to plan for this development