Seed innovation company Confluence Genetics and a large turkey integrator recently collaborated in a comprehensive 20-week turkey feeding trial.
The trial validated the commercial advantages of soybean meal made from Confluence Genetics' ProVIA Ultra-High Protein, Low Oligosaccharide (UHP-LO) soybeans as a complete replacement for conventional soybean meal in turkey diet formulations.
The large-scale trial in Iowa, involving 3,072 male turkeys, demonstrated that UHP-LO soybean meal (SBM) delivers enhanced nutritional efficiency and economic benefits for turkey producers. Birds fed diets containing UHP-LO SBM showed higher final body weights (2.5%), improved feed conversion ratio (3.9%), and increased white meat yield (5.9%), confirming the superior nutritional profile of Confluence Genetics' proprietary soybean genetics.
"This comprehensive turkey trial represents a significant milestone in validating the commercial benefits of our UHP-LO soybean meal across multiple poultry species," said Matt Begemann, senior director of R&D at Confluence Genetics. "The consistent performance improvements we're seeing – from broilers to turkeys – demonstrate the transformative potential of our proprietary soybean genetics. With 14% higher protein content and enhanced energy density, our UHP-LO soybean meal enables poultry producers to optimize their feed formulations, improve bird performance, and reduce costs."
The study's design incorporated a seven-phase feeding program with isocaloric and isonitrogenous diets, ensuring that performance differences could be attributed directly to the enhanced nutritional characteristics of UHP-LO SBM. The product's increased protein content and >90% reduction in anti-nutritional oligosaccharides, combined with increased metabolizable energy levels, enables more efficient nutrient utilization throughout the production cycle.
The turkey trial results build upon previous successful broiler studies, including recent collaborations with other poultry integrators that demonstrated up to 5.4% increases in broiler weights and 3.2% improvements in feed conversion ratios. These consistent findings across poultry species reinforce the broad applicability of UHP-LO soybean meal in commercial poultry production.
Beyond performance benefits, UHP-LO SBM offers turkey producers enhanced formulation flexibility. The higher protein and energy density allows nutritionists to reduce inclusion rates of soybean meal and supplemental fats while maintaining nutritional targets, delivering significant cost savings across large-scale operations.
"The turkey industry is constantly seeking ingredients that can improve both bird performance and economic returns," said Roy Brister, Ph.D., independent animal nutritionist and strategic advisor. "These trial results indicate that UHP-LO soybean meal provides turkey producers with a meaningful opportunity to optimize their operations. The combination of improved performance metrics and cost reduction potential represents a compelling value proposition for the industry."
Confluence Genetics' UHP-LO soybean meal is produced exclusively from the company's proprietary ProVIA soybean varieties developed through advanced plant breeding and AI-driven genetic selection. The positive turkey trial outcomes support Confluence Genetics' continued expansion in the animal feed sector, with plans to broaden the ProVIA soybean portfolio over the next two years to more than 30 varieties. Confluence Genetics plans to launch new herbicide tolerant ProVIA varieties in 2027 and 2028. The company continues to collaborate with value chain partners to ensure availability and adoption of UHP-LO SBM while further researching applications across poultry, swine, dairy and other livestock sectors.
