Soybeans are processed primarily for their oil, which leads to the generation of two primary byproducts: soybean meal and soy hulls. Soybean hulls are actually the husks of soybeans that peel off during processing. These soybean hulls are quite small in size and are not very dense. Therefore, many soybean hulls are pelleted to increase ease of handling and bulk density. As far as nutritional value is concerned, loose shell and pelleted shell are the same. In most cases soybean hulls are competitively priced compared to corn. To determine which is the best buy, we must first determine how they compare on a nutritional basis. The two nutrients we are most interested in are energy and protein. Corn contains 90% TDN (total digestible nutrients, an index of energy content) and 8 to 10% protein. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Soy hulls are not that simple, in fact, three different publications give them three different energy values. The 1984 NRC publication for beef cattle lists them at 64% TDN, the 1996 NRC for beef cattle lists them at 80% TDN, and the latest NRC for dairy cattle gives them a value of 77% TDN. Everyone agrees that they contain about 12% crude protein. Why this discrepancy in TDN content? First of all for the way in which they are used. If we were to feed one group of cattle a diet containing 90% corn and another group a diet containing 90% soybean hulls, the results would show that corn would provide gains 10 to 20% faster than husks. of soy. However, when we feed diets that contain only a small portion of the diet such as corn or soybean hulls, soybean hulls provide gains equal to those provided by corn. For example, we have a group of cows that have just started giving birth. They consume about 25 pounds of hay a day, but now that they are calving we need to supplement the hay. Let's compare corn and soybean hulls. We supplement with 5 pounds of corn per day and the end result is that the cows are now consuming 5 pounds of corn but their hay consumption drops to about 18 or 19 pounds per day. Their total energy intake is still greater than when they consumed 25 pounds of hay, but corn has a negative impact on total intake (now at about 23 or 24 pounds) and will also decrease the digestibility of the hay. The comparison is that we supplement with 5 pounds of soy hulls per day. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Now the end result will be that they will consume the 5 pounds of soybean hulls and about 21-22 pounds of hay per day and the digestibility of the hay can be improved. Although soybean hulls contain less TDN per pound than corn, they are equivalent to corn as a supplement for forage-consuming livestock due to their positive impact on forage intake and digestibility. In addition to the positive effects regarding the TDN fraction, they also contain more protein than corn. These same effects can be seen when soybean hulls replace corn in a broiler chicken litter diet..