New high protein soybean variety boosts feed efficiency
The new variety, called UA 5814HP, has a protein level of about 45.5% on a dry weight basis. This is about 5% higher than a regular commodity soybean, offering improved feed efficiency for poultry, beef and aquaculture producers, according to Dr Pengyin Chen, division soybean breeder.
“We developed the new variety to have a product with high nutrition and feed efficiency as such a soybean provides more protein per bushel of seed,” he told FeedNavigator.
Besides benefitting feed producers, he said it was hoped the new variety would give the region’s farmers a competitive edge in marketing their crop following past complaints from international importers that some US beans were too low in protein.
“High protein and non-GM may generate a premium for production,” he said.
Dr Chen listed high yield, wide adaptation and good disease resistance as the main characteristics of UA 5814HP.
High yields
He said the maturity group V soybean averaged 58.8 bushels per acre over four years of testing in 12 locations around Arkansas. It was also evaluated in seven southern region locations outside Arkansas where it averaged 64.8 bushels per acre.
In both tests Dr Chen said UA 5814 came top or near the top in terms of yield versus popular varieties that were used for comparison.
He said the relative maturity of the variety was 5.8, making it a late maturity group V soybean. In tests, it averaged 41 days to maturity, putting it about three days later than the Division of Agriculture’s Osage soybean.
UA 5814, which is suited to growing conditions in the mid-south and southern states, will be released to private companies through license agreements with the Division of Agriculture. Dr Chen said about 600 bags are available now through the university’s Foundation Seed Program.
The seed will be similar in cost to conventional varieties, said Dr Chen.
Development of the new variety was funded by the United Soybean Board and the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board.
