Why origin matters for soybean meal in poultry diets
Research shows U.S. Soy’s consistent nutrient profile supports better feed efficiency and predictable growth
4 February 2026
7 minute read
By: As poultry genetics continue to advance, birds are growing faster and converting feed more efficiently than ever before. Soybean meal remains the foundation of poultry diets worldwide, supplying essential amino acids and energy. Yet not all soybean meal delivers the same nutritional value.
According to Dr. Tom D’Alfonso, Worldwide Director of Animal Nutrition at the U.S. Soybean Export Council, the country of origin plays a critical role in determining soybean meal consistency, digestibility and reliability in poultry feeding programs.
“Let’s go back to the origin of soybeans. U.S. Soy is superior in its nutrient composition, consistency, digestibility and sustainability and these things all work together,” said D’Alfonso
For D’Alfonso, the quality advantages of U.S. Soy begin in the field.
“Let’s start with sustainability and work backwards,” he said. “It is the sustainable farming practices of the U.S. Soy farmer that lead to these quality characteristics.”
U.S. Soybeans are overwhelmingly grown by family-owned operations with long-term stewardship of their land.
“U.S. Soy is produced by family farms. More than 95% of all soybeans are raised on farms that are family owned and have been so for multiple generations,” D’Alfonso said. “They’re taking care of the land and they know their land.”
Those farms were also early adopters of precision agriculture. U.S. Soy farmers were some of the first to use sophisticated technology like global positioning satellites (GPS) and precision nutrient practices that precisely apply only what’s needed to the field and to the crop.
“This not only reduces crop inputs which reduces waste, it also makes the field more uniform and the crop more uniform,” D’Alfonso said. “And that’s true from one part of the field to the next and from one season to the next.”
These sustainable practices, he explained, directly contribute to the consistency of nutrient composition.
Post-harvest practices drive consistency
Beyond farming practices, D’Alfonso pointed to major differences in post-harvest handling between U.S. Soy and soybeans from other regions of the world.
“Soybeans grown in the United States do not require mechanical drying. They dry naturally in the field,” he said. “Natural field drying significantly reduces the risk of heat damage. Because of that, we just don’t have heat damage like we see very frequently in beans coming from tropical origins, such as Brazil,” D’Alfonso said.
In tropical regions, beans are harvested at higher moisture levels. Moisture is a source of variability, and it dilutes every single nutrient in the bean. Mechanical drying, commonly used to manage moisture in tropical regions, can further compromise quality.
“In order to dry the beans, typically mechanical dryers are fed with logs from eucalyptus trees that are burned,” D’Alfonso said. “There’s been several research studies showing that this mechanical drying is inefficient. Some beans are still wet; some beans are heat damaged.”
Both moisture dilution and overheating or heat damage reduce digestibility of the soy, making it a less efficient feed source.
Why soybean meal quality matters in poultry diets
These differences matter because soybean meal is central to poultry performance.
“Soybean meal is such an important ingredient in animal diets, particularly poultry,” D’Alfonso said. “It’s providing essential amino acids and metabolizable energy, and you’re counting on those nutrients to get the birds to grow to their genetic potential and convert the feed most efficiently into animal protein.”
When formulation assumptions do not match ingredient reality, performance suffers.
“The whole story from the way the beans are raised in a sustainable manner by U.S. Soy farmers to the way that the beans are handled and transported – when they get to the feed mill and then to the animals – they are much more consistent,” he said. “A poultry producer can rely on those nutrients that were formulated for poultry diets when you choose U.S. Soy as your preference.”
Energy and amino acid digestibility
Quality tracking across origins has revealed consistent advantages for U.S. Soy.
“We’ve been tracking the quality of soybeans and soy meal from different origins and to different destinations for more than 10 years and have identified a number of important trends,” D’Alfonso said.
One key finding is the energy contribution of high-quality soybean meal. Research shows that U.S. Soy delivers 93.8% lysine digestibility and 2,400 kcal/kg metabolizable energy.
“When it comes to metabolizable energy, the first thing that researchers have seen is that soybean meal in general is providing a lot more calories than we’ve been formulating for the last couple of decades,” he said.
Despite differing energy systems – digestible energy, net energy, apparent metabolizable energy with a nitrogen correction or not – the takeaway is clear.
“All these different systems of energy may create confusion, but here’s something to remember,” D’Alfonso said. “High quality soybean meal made from U.S. Soy provides as many calories per unit as corn.That’s a different mindset from what people have been told for decades.”
Digestibility also depends on the bird’s genetic capacity.
“It’s these factors that affect digestibility including not just a higher quality soy, but the animal’s genetics are better able to convert nutrients into energy,” he said. “If we want the animals to perform at their genetic potential, we have to feed them the right fuel.”
The high cost of variability
Variability in soybean meal from other origins often forces nutritionists to apply safety margins. Those margins come at a measurable cost.
“Because of variability and because of lower digestibility, if you’re using soybean meal from other origins, you should really discount or use a safety margin in your feed formulas,” D’Alfonso said. “It can impact around 100 kilocalories per kilogram or 50 kilocalories per pound,” he said. “You’re simply not going to get the potential that you could get out of those nutrients.”
The same applies to essential amino acids in soybean meal. It’s expected that will be 3% total lysine and about 2.7% digestible lysine. But variability from batch to batch and season to season that is seen from soybean meal from other origins makes it impossible to rely on that number.
“Thus, you have to discount it - I would discount the digestibility of essential amino acids by a couple percentage points. Whereas U.S. Soy might be 93 to 95% digestible, we’re now talking about 87%, 89%, 90% digestible with soy from other origins,” D’Alfonso said. “And those few percentage points in digestibility will really add up.”
Taken together, the value difference is significant.
“When we count the differences in the digestible essential amino acids, the metabolizable energy and the consistency, we see that U.S. Soy is easily worth $25 per metric ton more than soybean meal made from a soy of other origins,” he said. “That’s just in feed cost savings – that’s not accounting for animal performance.”
Consistency supports predictable performance
Commercial trials show broilers fed soybean meal derived from U.S. Soy diets grow 4.2% faster with 3% better feed conversion rate.
“I like thinking of this in the reverse – the highest quality soybean meal in the world comes from U.S. Soybeans. Regardless of where the soy is crushed, the important thing is to start with U.S. Soy,” he said. “Those nutrients that we're counting on in the diet will enable the animal to reach its genetic potential. The fastest rate of growth that you can see, the highest feed efficiency or the lowest feed conversion that you can see comes when the animal is performing at its genetic potential.”
Low digestibility and variability in nutrient composition will limit the animal from reaching its genetic potential. A balanced diet with U.S. Soybean meal as the foundation of the diet will allow animals to perform at their highest level, according to D’Alfonso.
“When you’re planning the feeding program for an animal, you’re making certain assumptions,” D’Alfonso said. “You’re assuming they’re going to be growing at a certain rate and that they’re going to be a certain body weight, and when you change from one diet to the next, that they’re going to be consuming a certain amount of feed.”
All those assumptions depend on the expected nutrients in the diet. Variability increases feed consumption and erodes efficiency.
“If an animal gets more calories one day than it needs, it just converts it to fat. If it has lower calories than are needed, it eats more,” he said.
The outcome is straightforward. The net effect of variability is that the animal requires more feed consumption to compensate for the inconsistency.
D’Alfonso likened feed consistency to the importance of fuel quality in a high-performance engine.
“It’s like having consistent high-quality fuel in your high performing automobile,” he said. “If it’s watered down, it’s going to sputter, if not fail.”
For poultry operations reaching for higher genetic potential, that analogy perfectly captures why origin matters when choosing soybean meal.
If you'd like to learn more, visit ussec.org for the latest research and resources. This information is partially funded by the U.S. Soy Checkoff.
Sarah Mikesell
Sarah Mikesell grew up on a five-generation family farming operation in Ohio, USA, where her family still farms. She feels extraordinarily lucky to get to do what she loves - write about livestock and crop agriculture. You can find her on LinkedIn.
