Soybeans (Glycine max) and Soybean Products in Poultry and Swine Nutrition

Soy is a legume and has been successfully cultivated around the world. Today, the world’s top producers of soy are the United States, Brazil, Argentina, China and India. According Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries (Abiove), the Brazil is responsible for some 28 percent of the world's soybean production, with the estimate of a production of 57 million tons. The Brazil is the world's second largest producer and exporter of soybeans, soybean meal and soybean oil. The soybean complex, which gathers the productive chain of soybean, soybean meal and soybean oil, is the main item in the country's Trade Balance. Other activity that involves the use of soy products (oil) is the production of biodiesel. In fact, so much in the Brazil as in most of the countries of the World, the soy represents one of the largest oilseeds of the world and to main source of vegetable protein for the poultry and swine feeding.