Comparison of Broiler Performance and Carcass Parameters When Fed Diets Containing Soybean Meal Produced from Glyphosate-Tolerant (MON 89788), Control, or Conventional Reference Soybeans

Abstract

A 42-d floor pen study was conducted to compare broiler (Ross × Ross 308) performance and carcass measurements when fed diets containing meal produced from glyphosate-tolerant soybeans (MON 89788) with those of broilers fed diets containing meal produced from control soybean (A3244) that has similar genetic background to MON 89788. Soybean meal produced from 6 conventional soybean varieties was included in the study to provide comparison measurements for broilers fed meal derived from conventional soybeans. It has been found that MON 89788 produces the 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase protein from Agrobacterium sp. strain CP4 (cp4 epsps), which confers tolerance to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup agricultural herbicides. Broilers were fed starter diets (approximately 33% wt/wt dehulled soybean meal) from d 0 to 21 and grower-finisher diets (approximately 30% wt/wt dehulled soybean meal) from d 21 to 42. The study utilized a randomized complete block design with 8 dietary treatments assigned randomly within 5 blocks of 16 pens each (8 male and 8 female) with 10 birds per pen. There were 10 pens per treatment group (5 male and 5 female). No treatment differences (P > 0.05) were detected among dietary treatments for feed intake, weight gain, adjusted feed conversion, or any measured carcass and meat quality parameters. Comparison of all performance, carcass, and meat quality parameters measured showed no differences (P > 0.05) between birds fed the MON 89788 soybean meal diet and the population of birds fed the control and 6 conventional reference soybean meal diets. It is concluded that the diets containing soybean meal produced from MON 89788 were nutritionally equivalent to diets containing soybean meal produced from the control and conventional reference soybean varieties when fed to broilers.