Currently, soybean meal is the major protein ingredient added to chicken feed to satisfy the protein and amino acid needs of the chicken. Australia imports about 1.8m tonnes of soybean meal annually for use in the livestock industry, and this reliability on the international market as well as constant price fluctuations introduce high uncertainty and potential risk factors for livestock producers in Australia. There are also environmental concerns around soybean production and its impact on the loss of forests, grasslands, and savannahs, as well as a relatively high carbon footprint.
Dr Elham Assadi Soumeh and her team from UQ's School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability have been investigating sustainably and locally produced protein-rich ingredients that can at least partially replace soybean meal which is commonly imported to Australia in high quantities and at high cost for use in chicken feed. The aim of this project is to identify sustainably and locally produced protein-rich ingredient that can at least partially replace the widely-used soybean meal, without compromise to growth, production and quality. Twelve experimental diets, including alternative ingredients such as canola meal, lupin kernel meal, and sunflower meals at differing concentrations, were evaluated.
The outcomes of this trial, together with a previous study laying the foundation to demonstrate that soybean meal can replaced if the crude protein level is slightly reduced, will be used to develop a framework for the feed industry and propose a long-term solution towards sustainable feed production.
Upon successful completion of this project, viable alternative ingredients will be identified that can replace at least 50% of the soybean meal in the feed. This could potentially lead to soybean meal imports being reduced by 500 tons per year – and increasing the local ingredient market by the same amount.
The anticipated outcomes of this project will fill an existing knowledge gap around potential solutions for the feed industry to replace soybean meal and provide the data that is required to use locally and sustainably produced ingredients and byproducts to improve carbon footprint and sustainability of broiler chicken production.
