Scientists propose peanut meal as an alternative to soybean meal

Soybean meal has long been the “gold standard” protein feed for poultry: it is cheap, amino-acid balanced, and widely available. However, it has two major drawbacks — high price volatility (ranging from 36–100%) and a significant carbon footprint due to deforestation and transportation, according to AgroXXI citing research by Brazilian scientists.

Researchers have proposed an alternative — peanut meal, a by-product of oil extraction that was previously mostly discarded or used as fertilizer. Experiments showed that a 100% replacement of soy with peanuts did not reduce egg production, egg weight, or feed conversion ratio (p > 0.05), while egg quality and protein content also remained unchanged.

At the same time, feed cost dropped by $41.81 per ton with full substitution, while the carbon footprint (CO₂ equivalent) decreased by 26.37% due to reduced nitrogen fertilizer use and more localized production.

Soybean meal has recently become more expensive due to global production concentration (82% in Brazil, the USA, and Argentina) and logistics risks. In contrast, peanut meal is produced in more than 100 countries, often locally, making it more cost-effective.

According to researchers, replacing soybean meal with peanut meal in laying hen diets is a practical tool for reducing costs (up to $41/t) and cutting CO₂ emissions by 26% without loss of productivity. For large farms, this translates into tens of thousands of dollars in annual savings and a lower environmental footprint of egg production.

Tags: soybean meal, peanuts