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Rapeseed meal
– a high-quality feed
Do you know what benefits the replacement of soybean meal
with domestic rapeseed meal presents? Read the article and learn more
about the positive impact of rapeseed products.
Economic benefits of using rapeseed meal in cattle farming
Have you ever wondered why, with such large rapeseed crops in Poland, soybean meal is still imported? Why is rapeseed meal considered only as a cheaper substitute for soybean meal when they are at least equivalent options? You will find the answer to this and many other questions in this article.
Introduction
Our country is the third largest producer of rapeseed in the EU. At the same time, Poland imports 1.4 million tons of protein in the form of soybean meal annually. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in interest among Polish breeders in using rapeseed meal in animal feed.
This happens especially in regions where rapeseed is cultivated in large quantities, such as the Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship or the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship.
As a result, the dependence of the domestic feed sector on imported soybean meal, which has been the dominant source of protein so far, has decreased.
It is worth emphasizing that Poland has transformed into an exporter of rapeseed meal, which additionally has a positive impact on the balance of the agri-food sector.
Despite this, rapeseed meal is still seen as a cheap substitute for soy products in many Polish farms. Such a state of affairs is caused by many stereotypes that have stuck to rapeseed feed.
This happens despite the fact that in recent years, rapeseed protein in terms of performance, safety, and cost is an equivalent or even better alternative to soy products.
Rapeseed meal: myths
and ancient beliefs
Despite the benefits it provides to the Polish market and Polish farms, there are many stereotypes surrounding rapeseed meal. Some of them result from a lack of information exchange between the user and scientific institutions, others are the result of lobbying in favour of soy products. Here are the most popular ones:
Rapeseed has high levels of anti-nutritional substances, which can reduce feed intake. Only early varieties had high concentrations of glucosinolates and erucic acid. Currently, the cultivated variety of rapeseed “00” is so refined that it can be used as feed for monogastric animals (poultry and pigs), as well as cattle.
Feeding with rapeseed meal worsens reproduction, damages the liver, is responsible for premature culling, and causes mastitis (inflammation of the udder). These statements are not supported by any scientific evidence. German farms can serve as an example of the falsehood of these statements. Germany is the third country in terms of cow longevity, although the doses of rapeseed meal there reach 5-6 kilos.
Rapeseed meal: economic
benefits in many
ways
The use of rapeseed meal in cattle breeding has a number of advantages. These are benefits for both individual breeders and the local and national economy.
High nutritional value of rapeseed meal: rapeseed meal is a product that is obtained during the pressing of rapeseed oil and is characterized by a high protein content (about 30-40% of dry matter). It also contains beneficial amino acids, such as lysine, although with a slightly smaller amount of methionine compared to soy. Thanks to this nutritional value, it is a valuable component in the diet of cattle, supporting growth and milk productivity.
The use of rapeseed meal in feed mixtures allows for improving the balance of amino acids in animal diets, which affects better utilization of nutrients. This is confirmed, for example, by the study by Moore and Kalscheur from 2016, which proved that rapeseed meal affects lower urea content in milk, which means better utilization of protein and nitrogen by the cow’s body.
Increased milk production and beneficial impact on meat: this is another advantage of using rapeseed meal for cattle breeders. Rapeseed meal is an attractive feed component due to its high protein content with good digestibility and favourable energy ratios. Including it in the cattle diet allows for improved feed efficiency and increased milk production. Research results indicate that the use of rapeseed meal in feed for dairy cattle can increase milk yield by 2-3%, which translates into higher profits for farmers. Feeding with rapeseed meal also increases the nutritional value of meat.
Reducing CO₂ emissions and supporting local agriculture: using locally produced rapeseed meal instead of imported soybean meal allows for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions associated with long-distance transportation. It also promotes sustainable agriculture by supporting the domestic oilseed industry and local rapeseed producers. It is worth adding that the cost of importing, which is a noticeable part of the price of soy products, is not included in the price of domestic rapeseed meal.
The economic significance for the feed industry: the production of rapeseed meal in Poland in 2022 amounted to 1.9 million tons, which represented a 25% increase compared to 2015.
This growth is the result of increasing rapeseed harvests and the rising demand for rapeseed oil, especially in the biofuels sector. Poland, as one of the largest producers of rapeseed in the European Union, has a well-developed processing infrastructure. Thanks to this, domestic rapeseed meal satisfies a significant part of the demand for feed protein, reducing the need to import expensive raw materials.
In addition to the obvious advantages of rapeseed meal, it is also worth remembering the shortcomings of the dominant soybean meal on the feed market. The fact that it is very often genetically modified is just the tip of the iceberg. For the end user, its economic properties are much more important. In addition to the cost added by the necessity of importing, it is susceptible to significant price fluctuations resulting from political tensions, climate change, and rising transportation costs.
Substituting soybean meal with rapeseed meal not only reduces production costs, but also stabilizes the financial situation of farms and feed companies.
Conclusions
In Poland, 1.9 million tons of rapeseed meal were produced in 2022, which represented a 25% increase compared to 2015. In 2022, the processing of rapeseed, which is crucial for the production of feed, in the member plants of the Polish Association of Oil Producers, amounted to 3.27 million tons.
As can be seen, the use of rapeseed meal over soybean meal presents a number of benefits not only for individual farmers, but also for the local and national economy. And if you are looking for high-quality rapeseed products, choose Best Oil.
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