Growers of soybeans are pointing out that the process used to extract oil to make into biodiesel does not change the feed quality of soybean meal.

The Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council is reminding livestock producers they don’t have to cut out soybean meal just because the demand for soybeans has increased:

Crushing soybeans for biodiesel does not change the meal consistency. When soybeans are processed for biofuels, they go through the same extraction process as they do when they’re crushed to extract oil for other purposes. Extracting the oil from a soybean leaves the soybean meal as a high protein feedstock. This soybean meal remains relatively consistent for livestock and poultry producers whose operations consume more than 98 percent of the domestic soybean meal used in the United States.

“As a soybean farmer, the boost in biodiesel production is really exciting,” says Todd Gibson from Norborne, Mo., who serves as chairman of the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council (MSMC). “The soybean checkoff has been working hard to make biodiesel a viable fuel source. We also realize the concerns of our animal production neighbors about what biofuels may do to the cost and quality of their feed supplies. For us, biodiesel represents a win-win situation. We have a greater demand for soybean oil, and we have a large amount of high-quality, consistent soybean meal to supply to the feed industry, our number one customer of soybean meal.”