Adding fat to a dairy ration can help cows get more energy, but choosing the right source takes some thought, especially when feed costs and milk components are in the mix.
High-oleic soybeans offer another option, bringing protein and fat into the ration with much less linoleic acid than conventional soybeans. They also give farms a way to use homegrown feed and potentially reduce purchased feed costs.
During a recent World Dairy Expo Knowledge Nook session, Stacy Nichols, dairy technical specialist with Vita Plus, discussed how to feed high-oleic soybeans, why roasting is important and how to determine whether they make financial sense.
“I’m a believer in high-oleic soybeans,” Nichols says. “If we properly roast them, they can not only bring very high-quality fatty acids and protein to the diet, but they also give our producers the ability to decrease their purchase feed cost and increase their margins on their dairy, increase their income over feed cost.”
Nichols has spent nearly 30 years in the dairy feed industry. His work with high-oleic soybeans grew from Michigan State University research and experience with dairies growing and roasting their own beans to replace purchased protein and fat.
The Component Connection
Conventional and high-oleic soybeans have similar protein and fat content, but different oil profiles.
“The bean is the same from a protein and fat content. The bean is the same,” Nichols says. “What’s different is high-oleic soybeans are bred so roughly 70% to 80% of the oil is oleic acid instead of linoleic acid.”
In Nichols’ presentation, linoleic acid content drops from about 55% in conventional soybeans to 7% in high-oleic varieties, while oleic acid rises from about 20% to 75%.
Too much linoleic acid can drag down milk fat. Because corn and corn silage already contribute some, conventional fat sources can push ration levels higher.
“Your cows aren’t starting at zero. Corn and corn silage already load the ration with it,” Nichols says.
With less linoleic acid, high-oleic soybeans give nutritionists more flexibility to add energy while protecting milk fat.
“High-oleic soybeans let us add fat. They let us add less expensive local fat to the ration without adding to that load,” he says.
However, Nichols cautions high-oleic soybeans are not immune to milk fat depression. Particle size, the rest of the ration’s fatty acid profile and other dietary factors still influence the response.
“High-oleic soybeans are not milk fat depression proof,” Nichols says. “There’s still unsaturated fat. They could still cause milk fat depression.”
Fat also supplies about three times the energy of corn, allowing nutritionists to raise dietary energy without adding more starch.
Across the research Nichols discussed, higher milk fat yield was the most consistent response, with some improvements in energy-corrected milk and feed efficiency.
Roasting Makes the Difference
Processing determines how much value the cow gets from high-oleic soybeans. Proper roasting protects protein from rumen breakdown while keeping fat and amino acids available.
“Roasting doubles the bypass protein of a high-oleic soybean,” Nichols says.
Roasting increases rumen undegradable protein, allowing more protein to pass through the rumen and be digested farther along the digestive tract. Roasted high-oleic soybeans can contain about 60% to 61% rumen undegradable protein when processed correctly.
Michigan State University research compared raw and roasted high-oleic soybeans. Cows fed raw beans produced about the same amount of milk as the control group, despite eating more feed. Cows fed roasted beans produced about 6.5 lbs. more milk per cow per day, along with higher milk fat and protein yields.
Choose a Roasting Strategy
Farmers can roast beans on-farm, hire a custom roaster or buy through a commercial roaster, grain bank or feed company. On-farm roasting offers more control but requires equipment, labor and quality checks. Outside roasting reduces the workload but adds considerations such as availability, storage and contract terms.
Regardless of the approach, Nichols says the roasting process needs to deliver a consistent product.
“The main point of all of this, the high-oleic beans have to be roasted if you’re going to capture all of the value,” he says. “And it doesn’t matter how you get them there as long as you’re getting a high quality roast.”
Roasting temperature, time and consistency all influence the finished product. Nichols recommends heating beans to 295°F to 300°F, allowing them to steep for about 30 minutes and making sure heat reaches the center of the bean.
“The targets are science. Hitting them is an art,” Nichols says.
Underroasting leaves protein less protected and anti-nutritional factors intact, while overroasting can damage amino acids. Nichols recommends regular testing rather than assuming equipment performs the same each day.
Particle size also deserves attention. Beans ground too coarsely may pass through the cow without being fully digested, while grinding too finely can affect rumen undegradable protein and increase the risk of milk fat depression. Nichols points to a particle-size range of roughly 650 to 800 microns as a common target in the research.
He recommends testing the finished product regularly to make sure roast quality and particle size stay consistent.
Protect the Value from Seed to Feedbunk
Nichols recommends choosing a variety suited to the farm’s climate, planting window and weed-control program, then confirming the seed contract allows the crop to be kept for feed.
“Does the seed I’m buying mature in my climate? Does it fit that planting window?” Nichols says.
A shorter growing season can lower the oleic acid levels in the beans, reducing the fatty acid profile farmers are looking for. Nichols cautions farmers to pay attention to maturity because beans that do not get the full growing season can come up short on oleic acid.
After harvest, the crop must remain separate from conventional soybeans. Nichols recommends flushing equipment and bins, communicating with crews, labeling loads and testing oleic acid levels. Commingling can dilute the oil profile and erase the benefit of the premium.
“One load in the wrong bin and you feed a commodity bean at high-oleic price,” Nichols says. “The result is the milk fat drops and the high-oleic premium you just paid for is lost.”
As a rough estimate, feeding 5 lbs. per cow per day can require about a half-acre per cow, depending on yield and roasting shrink. Planning for a short crop year can help keep the farm from running short and having to find another feed source midseason.
Nichols also encourages farmers to check ownership and feeding rights before planting. “Who owns the beans? Who owns the beans when they’re done? Who has the feeding rights to those beans?” he says. “Make sure you verify that before planting.”
Find the Right Feeding Rate
Nichols commonly recommends feeding 5 to 7 lbs. per cow per day in commercial settings. He says 5 lbs. captures much of the production response seen at higher feeding rates, while feeding more can make sense for farms growing their own beans.
“My recommendation for producers would be start at five pounds.,” Nichols says. “That’s the upper end of what you can buy economically at today’s prices and today’s returns. And that’s the bottom end of what you can feed growing economically.”
Nichols estimates the nutrient value of high-oleic soybeans at roughly $700 per ton under the market conditions in his presentation. Returns declined as feeding rates rose beyond his recommended range, especially when beans were purchased rather than grown.
Those figures are not fixed. Nichols emphasizes his calculations used recent ingredient prices and milk-price projections, so farmers need to run the numbers with current costs and the ingredients already in their ration.
“The replacement drives the response and the purchase fat you’re already buying sets the ceiling on the rate,” Nichols says.
The response also depends on the starting diet. Some of the production results Nichols discussed came from cows whose control diets did not contain added fat. Farmers already feeding supplemental fat should expect a different response than herds starting without it.
High-oleic soybeans also do not necessarily replace every fat source in the ration. Nichols says palm fat and high-oleic soybeans can produce different responses, so nutritionists should evaluate each ingredient based on its cost and contribution to the ration. The goal is to find a combination that supports production without spending more on feed than the cows return.
Measure the Return
Nichols recommends tracking energy-corrected milk, component yield and feed efficiency to see how the ration performs. Vita Plus has tracked income over feed cost across Upper Midwest herds for five years, and those three measures consistently stand out.
Bean quality deserves the same attention. Roast consistency, particle size and oleic acid content all affect how well the cows can use the nutrients. If performance falls short, Nichols recommends checking roast quality first, followed by particle size, feeding rate and which ingredients the beans are replacing.
“Put it in a ration for 30 days and then let’s sit down and look at your income over feed cost,” Nichols says.
“If it’s not improving your income over feed cost, it’s not a good ingredient for you,” Nichols says.
High-oleic soybeans give dairy farms another option for putting homegrown protein and fat to work. The return comes down to growing the right crop, getting the roasting and processing right, and making sure the savings and production response justify the cost.
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