No further processing is required. Canadian research showed no significant difference in milk production when cows were fed grain rations containing either fababeans or soybean meal as the protein supplement. Studies indicate that the dry matter digestibility of fababeans is somewhat lower than soybean meal and solubility of the protein is also lower in fababeans as compared to soybean meal. The fiber is higher and fat lower in fababeans versus soybean meal. Most results suggest that substituting two parts of fababean for one part soybean and one part cereal grain gives equal or better rates of gain.
Fababean plants make high quality silage.
Swathing should take place when the lowest seed pods begin blackening. The swath should be left to wilt for one to three days. The seed coat of fababean requires more chewing than that of the common baked bean varieties used in the United States, but the seed can be baked after it is softened in water. Skinned beans are cooked, salted, and used for sandwich filling in North Africa. Fababeans are small-seeded relatives of the garden broad bean.