Research HighlightsWhole, Roasted Soybeans are a Viable Option for Beef Cattle Feed
Highlights:
- University of Nebraska livestock experts found that cattle performed well when whole, roasted soybeans were added to their diets.
- Whole soybeans can be a viable alternative to distillers grains in cattle diets.
- The project included three years of trials, 400 steers, and two locations.
By Carol Brown
Soybean meal is a common livestock feed and it’s been supplementing cattle diets for some time. Nebraska researchers are finding that whole, roasted soybeans are just as effective as, or more so than, other supplemental feed ingredients such as distillers grains.
Galen Erickson, University of Nebraska animal science professor, and his team found that whole, roasted soybeans provided the highest average daily gain in finishing cattle. The three-year research project is supported with Soy Checkoff funding from the Nebraska Soybean Board.
“We conducted three large trials in two locations with a total of 400 steers and found there is a lot of opportunity for soy products in cattle diets,” Erickson says. “Of course, soybean meal in cattle diets is not a new concept, nor are distillers grains. But when more soybeans are produced, there is increased interest in how to fit soy – either whole or processed – into cattle diets again.”
The research project compared diets that included either wet distillers grains, soybean meal, whole soybeans, or whole, roasted soybeans. In year one, the team conducted the trial on finishing cattle. The second-year trial compared growing calves that were fed corn silage control diets, and year three compared diets of finishing cattle with different protein sources but containing the same amount of protein.
In the second-year trial, calves were fed a combination of corn silage, dry rolled corn, a protein supplement, and the addition of either: 12% wet distillers grains, 9% soybean meal, 10% whole soybeans, or 10% whole, roasted soybeans to arrive at the same total protein amounts (Figure 1). Of the different feed combinations, cattle that were fed the whole, roasted soybeans ate the least by weight but achieved the highest daily gain (Figure 2).
Are Cattle Gourmet Eaters?
Roasting soybeans may sound a little “foodie,” but the cattle seem to know what works for them.
“A lot of people erroneously think cattle can’t be fed whole soybeans, but it’s a non-issue,” Erickson says. “They can handle being fed soybeans as a dietary supplement because the microbes in their system destroy any trypsin inhibitors, which prevents the use of soy in pig or chicken diets without being heat-treated. But in cattle, heating does something that is beneficial. It prevents the microbes in the rumen from decreasing the good amino acids in the soybean.”
Whole soybeans have a higher oil content than soybean meal, providing cattle with another energy source. And whole, roasted soybeans in cattle diets have other benefits as well, according to Erickson and his team, such as:
- helping to protect protein from rumen degradation,
- reducing some oil so there isn’t too much for the rumen microbes, and
- allowing the protein to flow better within the rumen, reducing digestive challenges.
Roasted Soybean Availability
To lessen variations within the trial, the team received whole and roasted soybeans from the same source. The supplier roasted a portion of the purchased soybeans with their in-house roaster. Although roasters aren’t too common, it wasn’t difficult to find someone with the capability, Erickson says.
Roasting adds to the cost of the soybean feed, but the team didn’t explore economic impact with this project. Instead, they focused on the biology of adding this protein to cattle diets.
“We estimate that roasting soybeans increases the cost by $5 to $10 per ton, which isn’t that much,” he comments. “Having more cattle producers using whole, roasted soybeans in feedlot diets will depend on soybean markets and whether it’s economical to use whole soybeans instead of distillers grains. With this research, we now know the biology, which can be used to do all types of economic scenarios and planning as all feed prices fluctuate over time.”
Additional Resources
2025 Nebraska Beef Cattle Research Report – from the University of Nebraska
Article: Effect of Using Whole Soybeans, Roasted Soybeans or Soybean Meal in Finishing Cattle Diets
2024 Nebraska Soybean Research Report – from the Nebraska Soybean Board
Article: Effects of Using Soybeans, Roasted Soybeans or Soybean Meal in Feedlot Diets
Re-Introducing Soybean Meal into Cattle Diets – SRIN article
Meet the researcher: Galen Erickson University profile
Published: Sep 29, 2025
The materials on SRIN were funded with checkoff dollars from United Soybean Board and the North Central Soybean Research Program. To find checkoff funded research related to this research highlight or to see other checkoff research projects, please visit the National Soybean Checkoff Research Database.
