Soybean meal quality research presented at Soy Connext 2026

At the Soy Connext 2026 conference in Chicago, Dr. Dominique Bureau of the University of Guelph addressed the limitations of using crude protein as a primary metric for soybean meal quality. While soybean meal may meet standard crude protein specifications, it can still fail to provide the necessary digestible amino acid content required by nutritionists.

Factors such as physical damage, excessive heat during storage or drying, and overprocessing at crushing plants can alter protein and amino acid profiles in ways that traditional quality-control methods fail to detect. Dr. Bureau noted that while thermal treatment is essential to reduce antinutritional factors like trypsin inhibitors, producers must find a “sweet spot” to ensure heat improves nutritional value without damaging protein availability.