Soybean oil in cattle feed

[LLBUX]

I had a conversation last evening about adding soybean oil to a grain ration to add energy and reduce dust. The oil reduces chance of bloat as well.

My vet asked if it was a rumen bypass fat, which stumped me.

According to him, the soybean oil is degraded in the rumen and adds little to the energy in the ration. A powdered, dry fat goes through the rumen and is absorbed as energy later on in the digestive tract.

It has been 40 years since my feeds class in college and nobody heard of rumen bypass or powdered fats back then

IS soybean oil a waste of money in feeding cattle?

 

[TexasBred]

I had a conversation last evening about adding soybean oil to a grain ration to add energy and reduce dust. The oil reduces chance of bloat as well.

My vet asked if it was a rumen bypass fat, which stumped me.

According to him, the soybean oil is degraded in the rumen and adds little to the energy in the ration. A powdered, dry fat goes through the rumen and is absorbed as energy later on in the digestive tract.

It has been 40 years since my feeds class in college and nobody heard of rumen bypass or powdered fats back then

IS soybean oil a waste of money in feeding cattle?

Tell your vet to stick to veterinary medicine. Soybean oil has about 2.5 times more energy than corn and is the primary source of fat used by many feed companies. Rumen bypass fat is a dry fat and uses the calcium salt of free fatty acids technology and a blend of vegetable oils as well and is a good product but extremely expensive and not always very palatable. You might google Megalac as one example. Energy2 and Energy Booster are other dry fats. For your purposes soybean, canola or corn oil will work just as well. (Don't feel bad. Best I remember it wasn't available 40 years ago). :lol: :lol: