Sunflower meal
Sunflower meal is the by-product of the oil extraction process. Oil is the majority value of sunflower seed and meal is considered a by-product. Sunflower meal is an excellent livestock feed, especially for ruminants. For the last several years, the supply of U.S. sunflower meal has been somewhat inconsistent. That is changing as the domestic market for sunflower oil increases.
There are three large sunflower crushing plants in the U.S. and two small plants. Some of the sunflower crushing plants remove a portion of the hull prior to the oil extraction process. This process called ‘dehulling’ or ‘decortication’ results in a sunflower meal with protein levels above 30% and fiber levels of 21% and below. One sunflower plant uses only a mechanical press when removing the oil from the seed. This results in a fat content of 13 percent. The other processing plants use both a mechanical and solvent extraction process and therefore have fat contents of 1 percent.
Because of the variation of mechanical systems at the various oil extraction plants, each sunflower processing plant has protein and fiber levels unique to that plant. The individual plant specifications are listed below in order of volume.
Sunflower Meal Uses
Sunflower meal is the fourth largest oilseed meal produced and consumed in the world. Sunflower meal has the greatest potential use in ruminant rations but also has a place as a protein supplement in non-ruminant rations. Unhulled or partially dehulled sunflower meal can be substituted for soybean meal on an equivalent protein basis in feeding ruminants. The low-fiber and higher protein meals can be utilized in feeding poultry and swine. Lower levels of lysine and threonine may cause some restrictions on some non-ruminant uses of sunflower meal. However, sunflower meal contains an excellent level of methionine which provides potential advantages for mixing with other meals.
Dairy CattleSunflower meal is entirely adequate as the sole source of supplemental protein in dairy rations. Milk production was similar when partially dehulled or fully dehulled sunflower meal replaced soybean meal in dairy cow rations. Cows fed an extruded blend of sunflower and soybean meal had a more desirable amino acid balance than cows fed soybean meal, indicating that a blend of sunflower and soybean proteins may be better than either protein source alone for high producing cows. Production increased slightly when cows were fed a blend of sunflower meal and soybean meal instead of only soybean meal as the protein supplement. The high oil content sunflower meal is an excellent feed source for dairy as well. Most modern dairies supplement fat in feed rations for lactating cows. The high fat sunflower meal eliminates the need for some or all of the fat supplement requirements. Supply of the high fat content sunflower meal is limited. Sunflower meal is also well utilized in young calves and growing heifers. Weight gains and feed consumption were similar for calves and heifers fed sunflower meal or soybean meal. Digestion trials indicated that protein digestibility was the same for both meal rations (79 percent) but energy digestibility was slightly less for sunflower meal rations (73 percent vs.78 percent for soybean meal) because of the low digestibility of sunflower hulls. Sunflower meal is generally quite palatable. In research comparisons with soybean meal, sunflower and soybean meals were equally palatable by all ages of cattle ranging from young calves to milking cows. In studies with beef cattle, sunflower meal and cottonseed meal were equally palatable. |
| Beef CattleAs with dairy, sunflower meal can be entirely adequate as the sole source of supplemental protein in beef cattle rations. Sunflower meal has been compared to urea, soybean and cotton meals in beef cattle studies. Sunflower meal was equivalent to soybean meal for growing heifers. The 31 percent protein sunflower meal was as suitable as urea when fed to steers at up to 20 percent of the ration and as suitable as cottonseed meal when fed at 11 percent of the growing finishing ration. Feeding sunflower meal at 22 percent of the ration resulted in increased dry matter and crude protein digestibility and higher nitrogen retention. Limited studies indicated reduced weight gains and feed efficiency when beef cattle were fed 28 percent protein sunflower meal instead of a fully dehulled 41 percent sunflower protein meal. This difference was greater with barley than with corn-based rations. |