The Use of Sunflower Meal in Livestock Diets in Australia

Transcription

1 The Use of Sunflower Meal in Livestock Diets in Australia Tim Harrington, Neil Gannon, Alex Chang and Ray Johnson Technical Services Division, Ridley AgriProducts, Australia Introduction Sunflower (Helianthus annus) seeds and byproduct meals are of importance in some parts of the world because they provide a source of high-oil protein material for livestock diets. The major sunflower producing areas of the world today are Argentina, China, Eastern Europe, and the United States. Although Australia produces only relatively small amounts of sunflower meal (Table 1), it remains a valuable protein source for livestock. Table 1: Estimated annual vegetable meal production (tones) in Australia (Source AOF) Typical year Range (excl. major drought years) Min Max Canola Soybeans Sunflower Cottonseed Plus imports Soybeans Other Total Sunflower meal has a composition similar to that of cottonseed meal but does not have the problems of gossypol, a toxic pigment, or cyclopropenoid fatty acids (malvalic acid and sterculic acid), which cause pinkish discoloration of egg white. Nutrients in sunflower meal vary depending on several factors. The amount and composition of meal is affected by the oil content of the seed, the extent of hull removal and the efficiency

2 of oil extraction (Hesley, 1994). The proportion of hull removed before processing tends to differ among crushing plants. A portion of the hulls may be added back to the meal after crushing and the amount of hull or fibre in the meal is the major source of variation in nutrients (Table 2). Pre-press solvent extraction of whole seeds with no dehulling produces meal with a crude protein content of 25-28%, partial dehulling yields 34-38% crude protein content and completely dehulled sunflower meal yields 40% + crude protein, but up to 50 % crude protein has been noted in older references (National Academy of Sciences, 1971). Table 2: Nutrient content of solvent extracted sunflower meal based on amount of hulls retained No Hulls Partially Dehulled Removed Dehulled Dry Matter (%) Nutrient (% DM) Crude Protein Fat Crude Fibre Ash Calcium Phosphorous Potassium Magnesium Hesley (Ed.) National Sunflower Association, 1994 The crude fibre of partially dehulled or non-dehulled sunflower meal exceeds 20% and is a major limiting factor for use in poultry and pig diets. Around the world, the high variability in quality of sunflower meal due to differing levels of hulls present is the most important limiting factor with the use of this ingredient. Typical nutrient levels in the different sunflower meal products available are shown in Table 1. Further, processing temperature has a significant influence on the quality of sunflower meal. Low temperature processing is desirable to prevent denaturation of lysine and other valuable amino acids. Sunflower meal contains high levels of chlorogenic acid, a tannin-like compound,that inhibits activity of digestive enzymes including trypsin, chymotrypsin, amylase and lipase (see Swick, 2001 for a review). Because chlorogenic acid is uncondensed and non-hydrolysable, its content of 1% or more of a total of 3-3.5% phenolic compounds in sunflower meal is not reported in tannin assays. Additions of methionine and choline are

3 required to counteract the effect of chlorogenic acid. Chlorogenic acid is also a precursor of ortho-quinones that occur through the action of the plant enzyme polyphenol oxidase. These compounds then react to polymerize lysine during processing or in the gut. The requirement for both methionine and lysine are thus increased when sunflower meal is used in the diets of monogastric animals. Table 3 shows the chemical composition of solvent extracted sunflower meal together with three other commonly used oilseed meals in Australia. Table 3: Typical nutrient content of solvent extracted sunflower meal and other major vegetable protein meals used in Australia (% as fed or otherwise stated) Sunflower meal Canola meal Cottonseed meal Soybean meal Crude protein Fat (ether extract) Crude fibre Neutral detergent fibre DE Swine (MJ) ME Poultry (kcal) 1,700 1,850 1,912 2,510 ME Ruminant (MJ) Calcium Phosphorus Sodium Potassium Chloride Ash Lysine Methionine Methionine + Cystine Threonine Isoleucine Tryptophan Arginine The protein content of typical sunflower meal compares slightly lower with canola meal, cottonseed meal and much less with soybean meal. Sunflower meal compares quite favourably with other oilseed meals in terms of essential amino acids but is deficient in lysine.

4 The higher fibre content of sunflower meal tends to reduce the digestible and metabolisable energy values. Among the common oilseed meals, sunflower meal is a good source of phosphorus. Other minerals are neither deficient nor present in toxic proportions. It is a good source of B- complex vitamins: thiamine, nicotinic acid, pantothenic acid, riboflavin and biotin. Owing to its high fibre and lower protein and metabolisable energy levels, the overall nutritional value of sunflower meal is considered to be inferior to canola meal, cottonseed meal and soybean meal. Hence in feed formulations sunflower meal will only come into the equation if the price is competitive enough compared to these other protein meals. Depending on the market prices, sunflower meal can readily replace some soybean or canola or cottonseed meals in monogastric animal feeds if it is combined with lysine-rich materials such as meatmeal, fishmeal and/or synthetic lysine. It is also a useful material to have in low energy diets (e.g. broiler breeders) when other more fibrous sources are restricted or not available. In ruminant diets, due to its high fibre content, sunflower meal can be a cost effective source of roughage. However if included in loose mixes attention should be paid to inclusion levels as at high levels sunflower meal could result in dusty feeds. It has also been observed that if included in a pelleted feed greater than 10% the greyish colour of the meal with black flecks could sometime be confused with mould, at least by the end users. Sunflower meal tends to oxidise and can become rancid and therefore it should be properly stored prior to feed processing. The meal should be finely ground to break up the hulls. During the feed mixing and pelleting process, sunflower meal presents little to no problems. In actual fact, it compares better than soybean meal in terms of the capability to form durable pellets, possibly because of its higher fibre content. When included in a same level in feeds, mill throughput rate is similar to that of soybean meal but suffer marginally compared with canola meal and cottonseed meal. Sunflower meal is marketed and shipped as a meal or pellets. Bulk density of 40% crude protein meal is kg/m 3 with higher fibre/lower protein meals slightly less (Lusas, 1991; Ewing, 1997). Typically sunflower meal is dry and can be stored for extended periods

5 of time without significant loss or degradation (Hesley, 1994). Data from sunflowers and sunflower co-products used in the UK (Table 4) show similar trends as seen in US data. Table 4: Nutrient content of whole seed and meals Whole seed Meal Extracted Semidecorticated, Decorticated, Expeller extracted extracted Dry matter (%) Nutrient (% in DM unless stated otherwise) Oil (acid hydrolysis) Crude protein Digestible undegradable protein Crude fibre Neutral detergent fibre Metabolisable energy (MJ/kg) Starch Sugar Ash Calcium Phosphorus Sodium Potassium Magnesium Zinc (mg/kg) Copper (mg/kg) Manganese (mg/kg) Selenium (mg/kg) Lysine Methionine T Harrington, pers comm. Geographic sources of sunflower in Australia Table 5 details the estimated consumption of vegetable meals by species in Australia and as can be seen the monogastric species consume 90% of the protein meals.

6 Table 5: Estimated annual vegetable meal consumption in Australia by species (source AOF) Livestock Group Pigs Poultry Dairy Feedlots Total Tonnes 159, ,500 44,750 27, ,000 Most of the sunflowers are grown in Northern NSW and Queensland however the major pig and poultry producing areas are in Southern NSW, Victoria and South Australia. For example, PigStats 2001 and industry estimates suggest there are only approximately 78,000 sows in Qld and Northern NSW compared to a much greater market of 188,000 sows in Southern NSW, Victoria and South Australia. Despite the apparent lack of pigs, this 78,000 sows and their progeny have the potential to consume 39,000 tonnes per year of sunflower meal assuming an average inclusion of 10% across the range of diets fed to pigs. The average annual consumption of sunflower meal for all species is approximately 45,000 t/year (Table 6) so it is obvious that even though the major end user markets are significantly remote from the source, sunflower meal supply to the local markets is still a major limitation to increasing sunflower meal usage in Australia. Prior to October 2000, the sunflower meal was predominantly produced in Brisbane, which enabled cost effective transport back to the pig and poultry producing areas, but since then the major production of the meal has been moved to Newcastle, which is quite distant from the major pig producing areas. The additional freight cost incurred in transporting the raw sunflowers to the processing plant and returning the meal to the pig producing areas has driven up the cost of the sunflower meal and contributed to its reduced usage in pigs. Table 6: Estimated meal consumption in Australian Livestock Industries (Source AOF) 000 tonnes 1989/ / / / /02 Canola Soy Sun Cotton Regularity of supply in Australia From Table 6 it is obvious that soybean and canola meal are the predominant vegetable meals used in Australia and as such most commercial feed mills would have raw material bins allocated to their use. In recent seasons, due to drought conditions in Queensland, the sunflower meal production has been reduced and variable and therefore feed millers have had

7 to make the decision in advance of the sunflower season as to which raw materials they will be able to maintain throughout the whole year. Even if sunflower meal was to become very price competitive, annual contracts for other meals and limited raw material storage on site preclude taking full advantage of these opportunities. Feeding value of sunflower meal for ruminants Energy values of sunflower meal are lower than canola or soybean meal (NRC, 1996) (Table 7). Energy varies substantially with fibre level and residual oil content (Tables 2 & 3). Higher levels of hulls included in the final meal product lower the energy content and reduce bulk density. The mechanical process of oil extraction leaves more residual oil in the meal, often 5 to 6% or more, depending on the efficiency of the extraction process. Elevated oil content in mechanically extracted meals provides greater energy density, which may be more valuable for animals with higher nutrient requirements or where limited amounts of supplement are fed. Pre-press solvent extraction reduces residual oil to 1.5% or less (Hesley, 1994). Nitrogen required by rumen microbes can be provided in the form of rumen degradable protein from sunflower meal. NRC (1996) reports a low crude protein value for sunflower meal (Table 7), but this value is not typical of current commercial meal production (Tables 2 and 3). Heat treatment or toasting of meal from the solvent extraction process may increase the proportion of undegradable protein but there is little information on effects of temperature and time. Sunflower meal is more ruminally degradable (74% of crude protein) than soybean meal (66%) or canola meal (68%) (NRC, 1996) (Table 7). Table 7: Protein and energy fractions for sunflower meal, soybean meal, and canola meal. Sunflower Soybean Canola Crude protein (% DM) Rumen degradable (% CP) Rumen undegradable (% CP) Nutrient (% DM) Crude fibre Neutral detergent fibre Acid detergent fibre Metabolisable Energy (MJ/kg) NRC, 1996

8 Sunflowers can be fed whole, rolled or slightly cracked but they should not be finely ground, as this exposes more of the fat to the rumen environment, which could depress fibre digestion. It is a palatable feed, but can be laxative if fed at high levels. Typical inclusion rates are shown in Table 8. Table 8: Inclusion rates in ruminant diets % Inclusion Calf 2.5 Dairy Beef Lamb 2.5 Ewe Sunflower meal in calf and growing cattle diets Sunflower meal can be used as the sole source of protein in beef rations (Richardson and Anderson, 1981). In trials comparing sunflower meal with other protein sources, equal animal performance is commonly observed based on iso-nitrogenous diets from different sources. Dinusson et al. (1980), fed growing heifers a forage-based diet, supplemented with either dehulled sunflower meal (43% crude protein) or soybean meal. Heifers fed dehulled sunflower meal gained 0.82 kg/day compared to 0.83 kg/day for heifers fed soybean meal. Gain per unit feed was.077 for both treatments. Landblom et al. (1987) compared sunflower meal (34% crude protein) to soybean meal and barley distillers grains in growing heifer diets. Average daily gains were 1.09, 1.12 and 1.12 kg, respectively, for sunflower meal, soybean meal, and barley distillers grains. Gain per unit feed numerically favoured barley distillers grains at.070 with soybean meal at.067 and sunflower meal at.066. In this trial, feed cost per unit gain was equal for sunflower and soybean meals due to a lower price per unit protein for sunflower meal. Growing heifers fed 10 to 20% sunflower seeds in the ration gained similarly to those fed a conventional ration in a trial at the University of Minnesota-Crookston. However, total dry matter intake was lower for heifers getting the sunflower ration. The higher fat and hence higher energy content of the sunflower seeds compensated for the lower dry matter intakes.

9 Richardson et al. (1981), substituted sunflower meal for cottonseed meal in growing and finishing diets for steers at 0, 5.5, 11 and 22% of diet dry matter. They reported equal total diet digestibility for steer calves fed cottonseed meal and sunflower meal when fed at isonitrogenous and equal fibre levels up to 11% sunflower meal. Digestibility of dietary dry matter and organic matter was highest (P < 0.05) for the 22% sunflower meal treatment. The same authors also reported equal digestibility of high forage diets for steer calves when sunflower meal was substituted for urea as a nitrogen source and fed at 0, 5, 10, and 20% of diet dry matter. Patterson et al. (1999a) fed 33.5% crude protein sunflower meal to provide 91 g/d or 182 g/d of protein compared to 182 g/d of protein from canola meal, edible beans, or a mixture of edible beans and sunflower meal. In this trial, moderate quality forage (8.3% crude protein) was fed to steer calves in confinement to determine in vivo digestion kinetics. No differences (P > 0.10) were observed due to supplement treatment in degradation of dry matter, neutral detergent fibre, or acid detergent fibre in the forage. However, differences were observed in the digestibility of the protein supplements with edible beans (P = 0.02) and canola meal (P = 0.13), more digestible than sunflower meal. Jordan et al. (1998), compared soybean meal with a sunflower meal (81.2% of protein supplement on a dry matter basis) feather meal (11.2% of protein supplement) mixture for calves grazing cornstalks. Feather meal provided the rumen undegradable protein with the degradable requirement from sunflower meal. Gains were equal (P > 0.05) during the twoyear trial. Based on feed costs at the time there was an economic benefit using the feather meal-sunflower meal combination. Milton et al. (1997) compared sunflower meal to soybean meal and a sunflower-soybean meal mixture in iso-nitrogenous supplements in corn-based finishing diets containing 1% urea. The urea and sunflower meal provided adequate ruminal degradable nitrogen with the undegradable nitrogen provide by the corn. No differences were detected for gain (1.60 kg/day, P = 0.18, carcass corrected P = 0.72) or gain per unit feed (0.147, P = 0.85, carcass corrected P = 0.64) due to treatment. Sunflower meal in diets for beef cows Cows consuming low quality forages can utilise supplemental degradable protein to increase total intake, forage digestibility, and performance (Kartchner, 1980; Gray, 1995). Protein can

10 be supplemented with a number of feeds, co-products, or oilseed meals. Least cost sources are critical to profitability and sunflower meal can be price competitive per unit protein. Sunflower meal has been used in beef cow supplementation programs, but few research trials document comparative animal performance. Gray (1995) reported that sunflower meal will minimise weight and body condition score losses for beef cows. Patterson et al. (1999b), fed cows under winter grazing conditions in Eastern Colorado protein supplements from beans, sunflower meal, a mix of edible beans and sunflower meal, or canola meal at 182 g/d crude protein or sunflower meal at 91 g/d. Cows fed sunflower meal at 91 g/d lost more weight during gestation (P < 0.05) but no other differences were detected, suggesting supplemental protein levels of 182 g/d may have been higher than requirements. No differences were observed in weaning weight or pregnancy rate (P > 0.05). Beans fed alone resulted in some palatability problems, however, mixing edible beans and sunflower meal eliminated the problem. Jordan et al., (1997) compared protein supplements with equal amounts of metabolisable protein and rumen undegradable protein from soybean meal or feather meal-sunflower meal combination. Supplements were fed to cows grazing cornstalks at 0.68 kg per day as fed. The combination supplement was 81.2% (DM basis) sunflower meal and 11.2 percent feather meal. Cows and heifers gained the same (P > 0.15) on the two treatments with protein costs being lower for the feather meal-sunflower meal supplement. Lactating mature beef cows were fed 2.1 kg sunflower meal (38.1% crude protein), 2.3 kg lupins (33.2% crude protein) or 4.5 kg wheat screenings (16.6 % crude protein) in strawbased diets. No differences (P > 0.05) were observed for weight change, cow body condition score, or reproduction due to supplement treatment (Anderson, 1993). Calf gains were 0.96 kg/d compared to 0.91 for wheat screenings and 0.91 for lupins (P > 0.05). Sunflower meal was used successfully at 57% of the protein supplement (0.82 kg/head/day) as a degradable protein source in lactating cow diets (Anderson et. al., 2000). Sunflower meal in diets for dairy cows Research at North Dakota State University and South Dakota State University indicates sunflowers can be fed successfully to lactating cows. In the South Dakota study where rolled sunflowers replaced 22% of the corn and soybean meal in the grain mix, milk production increased almost 5% with no increase in dry matter intake. North Dakota researchers reported

11 15 and 7.5% increases in milk production when sunflowers replaced 10 and 20% of the corn and oats in grain mixes. Increasing sunflowers to 30% of the grain mix resulted in only a 3% increase in milk production. Cows fed 10 and 20% sunflower seed/grain mixes were also the most efficient in converting intakes of energy into milk production. Sunflower oil contains about 88% unsaturated fat or about 12% saturated fat, compared with beef tallow at about 48% unsaturated and 52% saturated fat. Some research trials have shown that the more unsaturated a fat is, the greater the depression in fibre digestion in the rumen and consequently reduced milk fat test. Neither South Dakota nor North Dakota researchers observed a decrease in milk fat percentage when feeding sunflower seeds; however, both reported changes in milk fat composition. Feeding sunflower seeds increased the longer chain unsaturated fatty acids in milk fat, which would result in a slightly softer butter. Taste panels at South Dakota could not detect these changes in milk fatty acid composition. Sunflowers should be limited to about 10% of the total ration, or less than 20% of the concentrate part of the diet, for optimum utilisation; i.e. about a maximum kg per cow per day. A number of studies have looked at the effect of feeding whole sunflowers on milk composition. Markus et al, (1996) found that the performance of cows fed whole sunflower seeds, as a source of energy appeared to be similar to the performance of cows fed traditional high energy diets based on barley. The fatty acid profile of the milk of cows fed diets supplemented with sunflower seeds was more favourable than that of the milk of cows fed diets supplemented with tallow with concentrations of C18:0 to C18:2 and C20:0 higher in the milk of cows that were fed the sunflower supplement than in the milk of cows that were fed the tallow supplement or the control diet. Sunflower meal in diets for pigs and poultry The value of sunflower meal in monogastric diets is predominantly in supplying amino acids for the production of meat or eggs and body maintenance. In the pig, the amino acid needs for maintenance and lean tissue deposition have been comprehensively identified and consequently the dietary needs can be expressed in terms of a quantity of ideal protein. Furthermore, lysine is the amino acid required in the greatest quantity for the pig and is usually most limiting in dietary ingredients. For these reasons, Cole (1980) and the Agricultural Research Council (1981) (cited in SCA, 1987) expressed the ideal balance of amino acids in relation to lysine content and this concept is the basis of estimating the usefulness of dietary protein sources for pigs.

12 Table 9 compares the ideal amino acid balance (relative to the lysine content) for growing pigs from birth to 90 kg liveweight with the amino acid balances for the major protein meals used in pig diets. As can be seen in Table 9, at first glance sunflower meal would appear to be quite a suitable amino acid source for pigs as the ideal ratio is exceeded in all cases. Table 9: Comparison of Ideal amino acid balance for pigs and the amino acid balance provided by major protein meals. Ideal Soybean Canola Meat & Bone Sunflower Lysine Methionine Methionine + Cystine Threonine Isoleucine Leucine Histidine Phenylalanine Valine However, as discussed earlier, sunflower meal has a relatively low lysine level so when using sunflower meal to principally meet the lysine requirements for the pig, there is a tendency to oversupply the pig with the other amino acids. This oversupply of amino acids causes inefficient feed utilisation as the pig has to expend more energy metabolizing and excreting the excess. Fortunately, synthetic amino acids such as lysine are available and can be used to improve the sunflower meal balance. Also as discussed earlier, conventional, non-dehulled sunflower meal also has a high fibre level (approximately 22%) that is often quite relevant in assisting pig nutritionists meet the lower energy density of some pig finisher and breeder diets. Oil content and composition of sunflower meal is not considered to pose any significant issues for pigs under current feeding programs. There have been some anecdotal reports of palatability issues in pig diets with high inclusion of sunflower meals and while the issues have not been fully characterised, most nutritionists put a maximum inclusion level of sunflower meal in mature pig diets of about 10% and much less or total exclusion in baby pig diets. It is clear that the use of sunflower meal in pig diets is determined primarily by its ability to cost effectively supply available amino acids. Consequently, under most pricing scenarios in

13 recent times, sunflower meal inclusion in least cost diets has been much lower than this 10% maximum. In the future, if sunflower meal usage is to be increased in pig diets, there may need to be a detailed revision and research of what are the factors limiting higher inclusion levels in pig diets and how they can be eliminated. Table 10: Protein and energy fractions for sunflower meal, soybean meal, and canola meal for pigs Soybean (48% Protein) Canola (34% Meat & Bone Sunflower (32% Synthetic Lysine Protein) Protein) Total Lysine % Available Lysine % Lysine Availability (%) Average Long term cost ($/t) $/kg Total Lysine $/kg Available Lysine Table 10 and Figure 1 show the relative cost of supplying either total, or more applicable for pig formulations, available lysine from various protein meals. Figure 1 clearly shows the difficulties sunflower meal has to overcome in order to be cost competitive against the other protein meals readily available in the pig industry. When considering the available lysine level of sunflower meal (available lysine is an indicator of how much lysine is actually digested and absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and therefore available for use by the animal), it is further disadvantaged as up to 25% of the lysine can be rendered unavailable as a result of the heating process involved in the production of the meal (van Barneveld, pers comm). Any future improvement for sunflower meal for use in the pig industry should be directed at a higher protein meal through de-hulling of the sunflower.

14 Figure 1: Cost comparison for supplying lysine or available lysine from different sources for typical pig diets in Australia $/kg of Total or Available Lysine Total Lysine Available Lysine Soybean Canola Meat & Bone Sunflower Syn Lysine For adult poultry, intact sunflower oil has been calculated to have an energy content of 3,651 kcal ME/lb (15.29 MJ or 8,049 kcal ME/kg) based on results of rooster TME assay by Juan and Villamide (2000). This is useful for adjusting sunflower meal metabolisable energy levels with changes in oil content. For example, if one sunflower meal with 1.5% oil has about 745 kcal ME/lb (3.12 MJ or 1,642 kcal ME/kg) and another with similar protein and fibre contents has 14% oil (expeller process), the energy would be estimated to increase to 1,201 kcal ME/lb (5.03 MJ or 2,648 kcal ME/kg). Australian studies on sunflower meal (Farrell, pers. comm.) reported that addition of 3.9% sunflower meal to wheat-milo-soy laying hen diets gave similar performance as control feeds containing no sunflower meal. Greater quantities of sunflower meal can be used in pelleted poultry feeds than in mash feeds because the fibre is compacted in pelleting but otherwise provides bulk to mash feeds causing increased feed consumption. McNaughton (1981), evaluated a defatted, "high fibre sunflower meal (36.1% protein)" and concluded from two experiments with

15 caged laying hens that complete substitution of sunflower meal for soybean meal in mash feeds was acceptable for normal hen weight, egg production, egg weight, and egg breaking strength. However, feed consumption increased with sunflower meal inclusion (indicating a lower calorie diet, correctable by adding more energy) so this factor should be considered when evaluating the product economically. For practical broiler feeds, normally maximum levels of 5-10% are used, the lower levels for younger birds. Gartley et al. (19500 added sunflower meal (composition not given) to growing turkey feeds at levels of 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28% and found that in the 0-4 week starter period (28% protein diet) up to 21% sunflower meal was acceptable and in the 4-8 week growing period (26% protein diet) up to 16.5% sunflower meal was satisfactory. Protein levels were held constant across diets, but energy levels varied. Summary It is apparent from the limited research that sunflower meal is a biologically and economically useful protein source for all classes of livestock. Sunflower meal may be especially useful in ruminant diets where degradable protein is required, such as lower quality forage, or high grain diets. The use of sunflower meal in ruminant diets in Australia is governed by its cost relative to other protein sources such as canola, cottonseed, soya, lupins, beans and peas etc. A further consideration is the GM status of the meal as the inclusion of genetically modified feed ingredients in the dairy feed industry is limited by demands from the milk-buying markets. There are limitations to the use of sunflower meal in diets for pigs and broilers. Any future improvement for sunflower meal for use in the pig and broiler industries should be directed at a higher protein meal through de-hulling of the sunflower. For laying hens, there appear to be no significant issues with relatively high inclusion levels. References Anderson, V. L., J. S. Caton, J. D. Kirsch, and D. A. Redmer J. Anim. Sci. 78:

16 Anderson, V. L Final report to NC Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education. ND Ag. Exp. Station. Carrington Research Extension Center pp Dinusson, W. E., L. J. Johnson, and R. B. Danielson Annual Report. p Dept. of Anim. Sci. North Dakota State University, Fargo. Ewing, W. N The Feeds Directory, Volume 1 Commodity Products Gartley et al Poultry Sci. 29: Gray, K. S M. S. thesis. Colorado State Univ., Ft. Collins. Hesley, J. (Ed) Sunflower meal use in livestock rations. National Sunflower Association, Bismarck, ND. Juan, S and Villamide British Poultry Sci. 41: Jordan, D. J., Terry Klopfenstein, and Mark Klemesrud Nebraska Beef Report, pp Jordan, D. J., Terry Klopfenstein, Mark Klemesrud, and Drew Shain Nebraska Beef Report, pp Kartchner. R. J J. Anim. Sci. 51: Landblom, D. G., J. L. Nelson, L. Johnson, and W. D. Slanger ND Cow/calf conference proceedings. pp Lusas. E. W Sunflower meals and food proteins. pp in Sunflower Handbook, National Sunflower Assn. Bismarck, ND. McNaughton, J.J. 1981, USDA Agricultural Research, October, pp Milton, C. T., R. T. Brandt Jr., E. C. Titgemeyer, and G. L. Kuhl J. Anim. Sci. 75: Markus, S. B.; Wittenberg, K. M.; Ingalls, J. R.; Undi, M J. Dairy Sci. 79: National Academy of Sciences Atlas of nutritional data on United States and Canadian Feeds. National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C. NRC Nutrient Requirements of Beef Cattle. 7 th Revised Edition. National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C. Patterson, H.H., J. C. Whittier, L. R. Rittenhouse. 1999a. The Prof. Anim. Scientist 15:

17 Patterson, H. H., J. C. Whittier, L. R. Rittenhous, and D.N. Schutz. 1999b.. J. Anim. Sci. 77: Richardson, C. R. and G. D. Anderson Feed Management. 32(6): 30. Richardson, C. R. and R. N. Beville, R. K. Ratcliff and R. C. Albin J. Anim. Sci. 53: Standing Committee on Agriculture Nutrient Requirements of livestock: Pigs. CSIRO Publications, Melbourne. Swick, R Considerations of using protein meals for poultry and swine. ASA Technical Bulletin, Volume AN