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Dairy demand for high oleic soybeans booming
Michigan State University’s research on feeding roasted high oleic soybeans in dairy rations is causing significant demand shifts.
Brian Preston says he expects Plenish beans will be one of the largest game changers for the dairy industry in his lifetime.
“I think that sand bedding changed the dairy industry,” he says. “I think calf hutches, like calves started living instead of sticking them in the basement of a barn. I think getting rid of the palm fats and switching to these Plenish beans—I think every cow in the country is going to need one acre.”
High oleic dairy research on how and how much to incorporate into animal diets has been ongoing since 2018 across several dairy states.
After hearing about the gains in milk production from a farmer in MSU’s trial, John Schaendorf says he went all in. In 2023, he switched his soybean planting plan to all high oleic and installed a roaster for himself and other dairies.
“Started off feeding five pounds, the milk pounds come up, went to six pounds, kept coming up—so we feed 7.5 pounds dry matter,” he explains after trialing different rations. “We took fat out and we took canola out, and reduced our costs in the ration. I say there’s $0.75 to a dollar a cow savings by switching.”
Harvey Commodities feed commodity broker Clint Cherney tells Brownfield, “Customers looking for roasted Plenish meal have probably tripled in the last year, I think probably somewhere around 70 or 80,000 cows.”
“We’re looking upwards of 50,000 tons this year and potentially next year, probably around 100,000,” he shares.
During a recent Field to Farm Pioneer Media Day, farmers also shared how conception rates, somatic cell counts, and death-loss rates have improved with the switch in feed.
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