NCI Future of Feeding Webinar Series | Featuring Seth Naeve, Matthew Clark, and Peter Schott
Seth Naeve, Associate Professor and Extension Agronomist for the University of Minnesota
Each month, NCI holds a new update in the Future of Feeding webinar series, which focuses on using innovation in the processing of animal food, the equipment being used, as well as using grains from our region for co-products.
This month, we featured Seth Naeve, Associate Professor and Extension Agronomist for the University of Minnesota, Matthew Clark, Co-Founder of Genesis Feed Technologies, and Peter Schott, CEO and Co-Founder of Genesis Feed Technologies. Each of these individuals had a unique perspective to offer on the idea of using essential amino acids to change the language of soybean quality, i.e. switching to using amino acids for soybean quality analysis rather than traditional methods (such as “crude” proteins).
Naeve focused his portion of the presentation largely on the composition of the soybean plant while also introducing the claim of soybean protein levels being a poor judgement base for the quality of soybean plants – and that analyzing amino acids in the soybean plant is far more suitable.
“It’s my contention that soybean proteins, especially as it’s measured simply by nitrogen content of soybean seed in the meal, is not a very good measure of overall value for the end user,” Naeve stated.
He also cited a paper published in 2014 as supporting this claim and also introduced a few alternative methods of soybean plant evaluation, which includes the amino acids mentioned prior.
Matthew Clark, Co-Founder of Genesis Feed Technologies
Continuing to provide evidence to support the idea of amino acids being a more useful measure of soybean quality was Clark’s presentation, which shifted to a more economics-focused mindset with respect to this idea. He shared more background information on the soybean plant along with the characteristics those in the purchasing, nutrition, and performance industries look for when selecting suitable soybean crops.
“In purchasing, we look at protein, moisture, and fat, typically,” said Clark. “In nutrition, we want amino acids, reactive lysine, oil content, and energy – I emphasize energy as important. If we’re looking at [performance], there are some non-formulaic characteristics we need to look at, such as potassium hydroxide and trypsin inhibitors.”
He also shared some best practices when it comes to purchasing commodities such as soybeans (for example, refraining from selecting the lowest costs in these commodities) and also detailing a system in which nutrients are bought at the lowest cost possible rather than the ingredients. With respect to soybeans, these were suggested in conjunction with using amino acid analysis to select the highest quality crops possible.
Peter Schott, CEO and Co-Founder of Genesis Feed Technologies
Finally, Schott’s presentation honed in on something referred to as the Nutrient Value Calculator (NVC), which is a system used to evaluate ingredients for purchasing decision-making. Using the price(s) of the ingredients and the NVC formula, important purchasing decisions can be made to minimize costs.
“Using the NVC is very handy for a purchasing person to make enterprise-level decisions on how, ultimately, they can reduce the cost of goods on their activities as an organization,” added Schott.
He then provided a real-life application of the NVC, and showed how great of a savings were achieved as a result of using this system. This calculator, combined with using more suitable indicators of soybean growth (i.e. amino acids) and the best practices described by Clark were said to be the best way to achieve what these purchasing individuals want most: high quality crops at respectable prices.
Northern Crops Institute greatly appreciates Seth Naeve, Matthew Clark, and Peter Schott’s involvement and input in our webinar. At NCI, we continue to work towards fulfilling our mission to support regional agriculture and value-added processing by conducting educational and technical programs that expand and maintain domestic and international markets for northern grown crops. All of this wouldn’t be possible without the innovative ideas of guest speakers like these three individuals.
To watch the recording, click the video below.
For more information about future webinars offered at NCI, click here.