Effects of Origins of Soybean Meal on Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility and Fecal Microflora of Growing Pigs

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of soybean meal (SBM) of different origin (Korea, India or Brazil) on performance, fecal microflora and economics of grower pigs. A total of 144 grower pigs (initial BW, 10.4 kg) were randomly allotted to six treatments on the basis of BW. Pig's diets containing SBM were formulated based on the total amino acid (TAA) or true ileal digestible amino acid (TIDAA) levels. Pigs fed domestic SBM diets had greater (p<0.05) overall ADG, ADFI and final body weight and apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of DM, GE and CP (phases I, II and III) than those fed diets containing SBM originated from India or Brazil. Moreover, greater (p<0.05) ADG, ADFI, feed /gain (F/G), and ATTD of DM, GE and CP were observed in response to diets formulated on a TIDDA basis when compared with those formulated on a TAA basis. The fecal microflora was not affected (p>0.05) by dietary treatments. The overall feed cost per kg body weight gain was less (p<0.05) for diets formulated using domestic SBM than for those containing SBM from India, while the feed cost per kg body weight gain was less (p<0.05) for diets formulated prepared on a TIDAA than a TAA basis. These results indicate that domestic SBM has better quality than SBM imported from Brazil or India and better performance was obtained when diets were formulated based on the true ileal digestible amino acid (TIDAA) content.