Pork producers will set diets this winter for the pigs they’ll market next summer, and commercial research shows that higher levels of soybean meal in those diets can help address a costly seasonal challenge: the summer dip in carcass weights. When temperatures rise, pigs eat less and grow more slowly as they approach market weight. Heat stress is estimated to cost the U.S. swine industry hundreds of millions of dollars each year, much of it in the grow-finish barn where the summer dip occurs.
“Having worked closely with pork producers, I know firsthand that the success of the pork and soybean industries is deeply connected,” said Courtney Knupp, United Soybean Board CEO. “When we invest in research that demonstrates the value of soybean meal in supporting swine health and performance, we’re doing more than advancing animal agriculture. We’re strengthening pork producers, creating greater demand for U.S. soybeans and delivering meaningful returns to the farmers who invest in the Soy Checkoff. That’s the power of partnership, and that’s checkoff dollars working for farmers.”
“The pigs we’ll sell next summer go into the barn this winter, and that’s when the diets get set,” said Tim Bardole, a Soy Checkoff farmer-leader from Rippey, Iowa, who grows soybeans and raises pigs. “If you wait until the heat shows up to think about carcass weights, the formulation decisions that matter have already been made.”
As part of the Soy Effect research publication series, nutritionists at a large commercial pork system conducted a trial using higher levels of soybean meal to maximize feed intake and growth in pigs headed for summer markets. The program increased carcass weights by an average of 5.5 pounds per pig over the summer compared with the system’s previous high-energy feeding program, while also lowering feed costs per pig. A second Soy Checkoff-supported commercial trial in Iowa in 2024 pointed in the same direction. A cooler-than-usual summer reduced the seasonal dip, but daily gain and other performance measures still trended favorably.
Many producers are already putting this to work. In a 2026 Soy Checkoff survey of swine nutritionists who together represent about 3.6 million sows, 60% of respondents said they had increased soybean meal in late-finishing diets to help offset the summer dip.
The Soy Checkoff recently launched Feed4Profit, a publicly available online tool that helps producers and nutritionists analyze ingredient costs and make feeding decisions that maximize profit per pig. Users can build and compare feeding programs, model performance and forecast income and feed costs over 12 months. The tool is part of a broader shift in the Soy Checkoff’s animal nutrition work, which now relies on species advisory teams for swine, poultry, beef and dairy to move research into commercial diets.
Soybean meal is the leading protein source in U.S. pig diets, and Soy Checkoff research shows it delivers more energy than traditional book values reflect. Demand from swine diets matters more as U.S. soybean processing expands. The source you mention isn’t in the document. Practical domestic processing capacity rose 14% from early 2023 to early 2025, reaching about 2.55 billion bushels per year, and could top 2.78 billion by 2030 if all announced expansions are completed
Pork producers and nutritionists can explore the research and feeding resources at the U.S. Soy Center for Animal Nutrition and Health at can.ussoy.org and try Feed4Profit at feed4profit.net.
