Home-Grown Peas and Faba Beans Can Replace SBM in Commercial Pig Diets
Peas and faba beans are a viable home-grown alternative to soybean meal (SBM) in nutritionally balanced grower and finisher pig diets, according to new research at Scottish Agricultural College and partly sponsored by BPEX.Aim
To demonstrate whether peas and faba beans can replace SBM in grower and finisher pig diets under commercial conditions.

The commercial demonstration trial
- A large scale demonstration trial was conducted on a commercial farm using 1230 grower and finisher pigs (35-110kg) kept on slats or straw.
- Three types of pelleted feeds were tested:
- SBM diet (Control)
- 30% faba beans, no SBM (Beans)
- 30% peas, no SBM (Peas)
- Pig growth performance, health, cleanliness and carcass quality (P2 value and lean meat per cent) were measured.
Results
- Test diets resulted in similar body weight gain (Figure 1) and feed conversion ratio (Figure 2).

Figure 1: Body weight gain (g/pig/day) of pigs (35-110kg) fed control, bean and pea diets kept on slats or straw.

Figure 1: Body weight gain (g/pig/day) of pigs (35-110kg) fed control, bean and pea diets kept on slats or straw.

Figure 2: Feed conversion ratio of pigs (35-110kg) fed control, bean and pea diets kept on slats or straw.
- Pig health and cleanliness were similar between the test diets.
- Test diets resulted in similar P2 value or lean meat per cent. Mean P2 values obtained were all below the 12mm upper limit for premium carcass payment (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Back fat depth at the P2 position of pigs fed control, bean and pea diets kept on slats or straw.
Conclusions
- Peas and faba beans are a viable home-grown alternative to SBM in nutritionally balanced grower and finisher pig diets.
July 2012