Research has found, too, that feeding vegetable oil to cows can yield improved reproductive success. To a farmer, a convenient product which also proves profitable is a godsend. Feeding whole soybeans to cattle fills the bill. The product requires no processing and is easily mixed into existing rations. Its ease of handling lends itself to storing with conventional equipment.
Whole soybeans are similar in cost to soybean meal protein used in feed rations.
And, because the beans contain fat, the energy density of the diet is increased delivering more value for the same price. Thus with its fat content, soybeans are a more dense source of energy. The potential for soybeans to protect fat and protein from rumen exposure enhances the value of soybeans over a simple energy-protein diet. Protection of fat would enable greater than 6 percent fat to be achieved in the diet without negative effects on digestion in the rumen. High-quality protected protein, such as the whole bean might supply, is lower priced than the cost of bypass proteins such as bloodmeal and fishmeal.