The demand for locally grown plant protein continues apace

All of this comes at a cost – both economically and environmentally. So it makes sense for local farmers to reduce this import bill be producing as much of our own, home-grown protein crops as possible.

Prior to the ending up of the Stormont Executive, the then Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Edwin Poots MLA announced that the Northern Ireland pilot Protein Crops Scheme will be extended to the end of 2023.

Crops eligible in the scheme include the following:

Spring Peas (Land use code - NF1)

Spring Field Beans (Land use code - NF2)

Winter Field Beans (Land use code - NF3)

Spring Sweet Lupins (Land use code - NF4)

Winter Sweet Lupins (Land use code - NF5)

The forage crops clover, alfalfa/lucerne are not eligible for aid under this pilot scheme.

He explained: “I am pleased to announce an extension to the pilot Protein Crop Scheme for growing combinable beans, peas and sweet lupins.

“I would continue to encourage everyone to consider the opportunities and benefits this scheme provides not only to boost farm incomes but also the associated agronomic and environmental benefits."

The aim of the scheme is to create a domestically produced source of protein for animal feed, provide agronomic benefits within arable rotations and provide an alternative source of income for farmers.

The pilot scheme was introduced in 2021, initially for two years, with the intention that the approach would then be reviewed and possibly refined for subsequent years to maximise the economic and environmental benefits.

Edwin Poots continued: “An interim review of the scheme performance has been completed and this has demonstrated overall positive results.

"The number of businesses claiming support for growing protein crops has increased from 32 in 2020 to 113 in 2022 with a total of 641 ha of protein crops grown in 2021.

“A number of environmental benefits have also been recorded, including an increase in crop diversity and a reduction in fertiliser usage on participating farms. An economic and environmental evaluation of the pilot scheme will now be carried out.”

Recent on-farm experience in Northern Ireland confirms that field beans grow well here.

But is there a market for them?

Trial work carried out at Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) Hillsborough has sought to find this out.

Field beans have a moderate crude protein content (280 g/kg dry matter). They have a relatively high starch content (400 g/kg dry matter), and as such might appear to be ideal in ruminant diets.

However, their inclusion in ruminant diets is normally restricted due to the perceived risk associated with ‘anti-nutritional substances’ that have the potential to reduce intakes and digestibility, and oestrogenic compounds that could adversely impact fertility.

The initial work at AFBI included 4.7 kg of field beans per day in the diet of mid lactation dairy cows.

No adverse effects on performance were found. A follow-up study followed. It was co-funded by AgriSearch and the Departmment of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).

The project took the concept further and examined the impact of including both moderate and high levels of field beans in the diet of freshly calved dairy cows.

The study involved seventy early lactation dairy cows, offered a mixed ration of silage and concentrates (approximately 45 : 55 on a DM ratio).

The concentrates contained either 0%, 35% or 70% field beans (representing daily intakes of beans of 0, 4.2 and 8.4 kg per cow, respectively). In the diet containing 8.4 kg beans, the beans replaced all of the soya bean meal, rape seed meal and maize gluten.

All four concentrates had the same crude protein content (19.3% on a fresh basis), although starch levels were marginally higher when 8.4 kg of beans were included.

The beans (variety Fuego) were sourced from a local farm, and dried to approximately 14% moisture content, before being milled and incorporated into the concentrates.

The diets were offered to cows from calving until day 140 of lactation.

The results clearly demonstrate that dairy cows were able to consume the diet which contained 8.4 kg beans per day with no negative effect on intakes.

This suggests that the ‘anti-nutritional substances’ present in beans may not have as large an impact on intakes as previously thought.

However, while milk yield was not significantly affected, both milk fat and milk protein contents were reduced when offering the diet containing 8.4kg of beans, and as such, milk fat plus protein yield was also reduced.

While the reduction in milk fat content can likely be attributed to the high starch intake as a result of the high bean inclusion (8.4 kg), the reduction in milk protein content is more likely to reflect a shortage of specific amino acids in the diet.

For example, field beans are known to contain much lower levels of the amino acid methionine than either soya-bean meal and rapeseed meal, and methionine is known to be essential for milk protein synthesis.

Thus it is speculated that the reduction in milk protein content might have been avoided if the diet containing 8.4 kg of beans had been supplemented with specific amino acids such as methionine.

Nevertheless, the reductions in milk fat and protein content in the current experiment reduced the value of milk produced by approximately 80 pence/cow/day.

Regarding fertility performance, the inclusion of beans in the diet had no effect on days to first oestrus. However, conception rates tended to fall when the diet containing 8.4 kg of field beans was offered.

While very large numbers of cows are needed to identify genuine differences in fertility performance, the trend observed causes some concern regarding the inclusion of very high levels of beans in the diets of early lactation cows.

Consequently, based on the results of the two studies undertaken to date, in order to manage the potential risks which field beans may present, it is recommended that field bean inclusion levels for dairy cows do not exceed 4.0 – 5.0 kg per cow per day.

Meanwhile, ongoing Teagasc research work in the Republic of Ireland is looking at the opportunity to grow plant proteins in this part of the world form a en entirely different perspective.

The human demand for plant proteins continues to grow.

Estimates put the size of the global market for these products at around €17 billion, one which is expected to grow at around 7.0% per annum.

Teagasc’s Sinéad Fitzsimons and Mark Fenelon are working on the fast evolving U-PROTEIN research and development project

They recently took the opportunity of putting into perspective the impact of their ongoing work into the development of new, plant protein-based products.

According to Fenelon, there are excellent opportunities across the island of Ireland to grow protein sources for the human food chain around the world.

He explained:“In many case we are talking about the inclusion of plant proteins in ingredients. This market is very large and continues to grow.

“Ireland already exports a lot of its dairy and beef products. But, equally, there is an opportunity to export plant proteins as components within food ingredients into the future.”

Fenelon continued:“Formulated and pre-prepared food are all manufactured with a wide range of ingredients.

“And, of course, protein is key in this context. Protein is required for growth.

"As the world’s population continues to increase and average incomes rise, the demand for high quality protein will increase accordingly.”

U-PROTEIN is a Teagasc project that has been established to identify how Irish plant proteins can be best used to meet the requirements of the ingredients’ sector.

Its ultimate aim is to create new business opportunities for the farming community.

This would complement the activities already taking place within the likes of the dairy and beef industries.

At a technical level the focus of U-PROTEIN is to add value to an entire protein crop.

It is already apparent that products such as starch and fibres can also be extracted from these sources.

These can then be used to form a nutritional base within a range of foods.

Mark Fenelon again:“This represents a great opportunity for Ireland. Given our mild climate, we can grow crops like potatoes and fava beans very well.

“In many ways, we are taking a lead from the dairy industry, which has done so much to add value to milk. Our aim is to do the same with plant proteins: in other words make full use of the entire crop, not just the protein fraction.”

Teagasc research scientists have also been able to increase the plant protein content of beans from 20% up to 90% in the form of a ‘protein isolate’.

According to Sinéad Fitzsimons, a spectrum of protein-based ingredients can be used within the food sectors. These range from a flour, made from the original crop through to various liquid-based concentrates

She added:“The isolate can be used in products containing a high protein content. Possible options here include the development of new, plant-based sports’ nutritional drinks.

“We are used to seeing whey based beverages and whey-based protein powders.

“Now there are plant-based options, which are based on faba beans and peas.

“These contain up to 90% protein. The make-up of the product could include the isolate plus a flavour source. When mixed with water, they can be taken after a sports’ session to aid recovery.”

Teagasc’s U-PROTEIN programme is now at pilot scale, where the development of new plant protein-based ingredients is concerned.

“The initial laboratory work allowed us to develop the processes and evaluate the efficiency of the various extraction and separation systems,” said Fitzsimons.

“The next step will be into industry. New equipment is available to us that extract the protein.”

According to Mark Fenelon, a pilot plant can produce a range of products with outputs ranging from 100kg to 1,000kg.

He further explained:“We are essentially working at a pre-commercial scale. So this means that we can work at small and larger pilot scale.

“But processes need to be scalable from the point of view of a commercial operator. We try to mimic the bigger processes as best we can.”

Many of the processes developed for the U-PROTEIN programme are similar to those now used by the dairy sector. However, there is one big difference: milk is a liquid; plant proteins are all solids.

There are also key differences, from a technology perspective when it comes to sourcing the other nutrient and fibre stream within a crop.

Mark Fenelon again: “Where milk is concerned, it is possible to make cheese, whey and, in addition, to source other products.

“But all of this work is carried out in a liquid format.

“However, where plant ingredient sources are concerned, the challenge comes back all the time to the fact that the original material is solid in nature.

“And this does make a real difference when it comes to developing the required extraction processes.”

If you are thinking of growing a protein crop to feed your beef cattle and sheep you can contact your local CAFRE Beef and Sheep Adviser or Animal Nutritionist