The substitution method
Sunflower meal vs soybean meal
Sunflower meal carries about 60 percent of soybean meal's protein and four times its fiber, so it trades far cheaper: $160 a ton against $369 on the Oct 19, 2026 USDA board, or 71 percent of soybean meal's cost per pound of protein. On lysine the same load cost 122 percent.
Updated Oct 30, 2026
Cite
Sunflower meal carries about 60 percent of soybean meal's crude protein and four times its fiber, so it trades at a deep discount. On the Oct 19, 2026 USDA board it cost $160 a ton against $369 for soybean meal, which made its crude protein 71 percent as costly per pound. Priced on lysine, the amino acid pigs and poultry run short of first, the same load cost 122 percent of soybean meal.
What a pound of each carries
| Measure | Sunflower meal (with hulls) | Soybean meal | Sunflower as a share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crude protein, dry matter | 31.3% | 52.6% | 60% |
| Crude fiber, dry matter | 29.1% | 6.8% | 428% |
| Neutral detergent fiber, dry matter | 46.4% | 14.2% | 327% |
| Lysine, per 100 lb protein | 3.6 lb | 6.2 lb | 58% |
| Methionine, per 100 lb protein | 2.3 lb | 1.4 lb | 164% |
| Methionine + cystine, per 100 lb protein | 4.0 lb | 3.0 lb | 133% |
| Threonine, per 100 lb protein | 3.7 lb | 3.8 lb | 97% |
| Tryptophan, per 100 lb protein | 1.2 lb | 1.4 lb | 86% |
Source: Feedipedia (INRAE, CIRAD, AFZ and FAO): sunflower meal, solvent-extracted, non-dehulled (node 732) and soybean meal, type 48 and similar (node 674). Averages of lab samples; fiber and fat on a dry-matter basis, amino acids per 100 lb of crude protein. Read Oct 30, 2026.
The common US grade is crushed with the hulls left in, and the hull is mostly fiber. Feedipedia puts that meal at 31.3 percent crude protein on a dry-matter basis and 29.1 percent crude fiber, against 52.6 and 6.8 for soybean meal. Dehulled sunflower meal averages 37.7 percent protein and 22.8 percent fiber, a different product at a different price, so a quote without a protein figure attached is not a comparable one.
The amino acids split the two. Per 100 pounds of protein, sunflower meal carries 3.6 pounds of lysine to soybean meal's 6.2, but 2.3 pounds of methionine to 1.4. Sunflower meal is the better source of the sulfur amino acids and the worse source of lysine.
Where each one fits
Cattle get the most from the swap. Feedipedia's review finds sunflower meal, even with the hulls in, can replace soybean meal in ruminant diets when the ration is balanced for protein and fiber, since the rumen makes its own use of fiber and builds much of its own protein. South Dakota State University Extension likewise treats it as a rumen-degradable protein for cattle.
Pigs and poultry feel both limits. Feedipedia names fiber and the shortfall in lysine, threonine and tryptophan as the cap on sunflower meal in pig diets, and puts the net energy of even a dehulled meal for growing pigs at about 64 percent of a low-protein soybean meal's. For poultry it rates the meal better suited to laying hens than to broilers, though broiler trials reached 30 percent inclusion once the fiber limit was lifted and lysine was supplied separately. In those diets the sunflower discount has to pay for the lysine added back.
What the board shows since 2022
- FOB plant, Minnesota-Dakotas region
| Year | Weeks | Sunflower $/ton | Soybean meal $/ton | Protein cost vs soybean meal | Weeks cheaper on protein | Lysine cost vs soybean meal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 33 | $279 | $471 | 97% | 17 | 167% |
| 2023 | 49 | $248 | $444 | 91% | 36 | 156% |
| 2024 | 49 | $174 | $352 | 81% | 44 | 140% |
| 2025 | 48 | $132 | $283 | 77% | 42 | 132% |
| 2026 (to Oct 19) | 42 | $143 | $329 | 71% | 42 | 123% |
Source: USDA AMS weekly feedstuffs reports as published on this board, Feb 7, 2022 through Oct 19, 2026, weeks with both quotes. Sunflower meal is the Minnesota-Dakotas FOB plant quote; soybean meal the national FOB plant median. Book values: sunflower meal 91% dry matter, 32% crude protein; soybean meal 89% and 53.5%.
The discount has widened every year. Sunflower meal sold for 59 percent of soybean meal's price per ton in 2022 and 44 percent in 2026 through Oct 19, and its protein cost fell from 97 percent of soybean meal's to 71 percent. It bought crude protein for less than soybean meal in 181 of the 221 weekly reports that quoted both from Feb 7, 2022 through Oct 19, 2026, and in every one of the 42 reports of 2026.
Lysine tells the other story. Priced per pound of lysine, sunflower meal cost less than soybean meal in only 10 of those 221 weeks, two in 2023 and eight in 2025. The gap has narrowed, from 167 percent of soybean meal's lysine cost in 2022 to 123 percent in 2026, but it has not closed.
One caution on the series: USDA quotes sunflower meal from one region, the Minnesota-Dakotas, FOB plant. It went unquoted in 15 weeks since 2022, and the quote held at $140 to $180 a ton (a $160 midpoint) every week from Sep 14 through Oct 19, 2026.
Worked example: the week of Oct 19, 2026
Sunflower meal at $160 a ton, 91 percent dry matter and 32 percent crude protein (the board's book values), carries 582 pounds of protein. Soybean meal at $369, 89 percent dry matter and 53.5 percent protein, carries 952 pounds.
- Per pound of crude protein: $160 / 582 = $0.275 for sunflower meal and $369 / 952 = $0.387 for soybean meal, so sunflower meal cost 71 percent as much.
- Per pound of lysine: 582 pounds of protein at 3.6 percent lysine is 21.0 pounds, or $7.63 a pound. Soybean meal's 952 pounds at 6.2 percent is 59.0 pounds, or $6.25. Sunflower meal cost 122 percent as much.
- Per pound of methionine plus cystine: 23.3 pounds in sunflower meal at $6.87 a pound against 28.6 pounds in soybean meal at $12.92, or 53 percent.
- Per pound of energy (TDN): $0.154 against $0.253. Sunflower meal is cheaper energy than soybean meal, though at 153 percent of corn's cost it is not an energy buy.
Which number decides the trade depends on the animal: crude protein for a cow, lysine for a pig. Feedipedia's caution applies to all of it: sunflower meal varies widely, so formulate on the load's own analysis, not table values.
The latest USDA week
Sunflower meal was $160 per ton as of Oct 26, 2026 (FOB plant, Minnesota-Dakotas region, USDA), or $0.275 per pound of crude protein (74% of soybean meal's cost per pound of protein). Soybean meal was $352 per ton as of Oct 26, 2026 (national median across 5 FOB plant regions, USDA).
The Ration reports USDA's sunflower meal and soybean meal prices as published and ranks them on cost per unit of nutrient. It does not tell a reader what to feed or at what rate.
Now look at the live data
Common questions
Is sunflower meal as good as soybean meal?
Not pound for pound. With the hulls in it carries about 31 percent crude protein on a dry-matter basis against soybean meal's 53 percent, four times the fiber and about 58 percent of the lysine per pound of protein. For cattle it can replace soybean meal in a balanced ration; for pigs and poultry the fiber and lysine limit it.
How much protein is in sunflower meal?
Feedipedia averages 31.3 percent crude protein on a dry-matter basis for meal crushed with the hulls in, and 37.7 percent for dehulled or partly dehulled meal. Soybean meal (type 48) averages 52.6 percent.
Why is sunflower meal cheaper than soybean meal?
It delivers less protein and energy per ton and less lysine per pound of protein. On the Oct 19, 2026 board it cost $160 a ton against $369, which still made its crude protein 71 percent as costly per pound as soybean meal's.
Is sunflower meal cheaper than soybean meal per pound of protein?
Usually. It was cheaper on crude protein in 181 of 221 weekly USDA reports from Feb 7, 2022 through Oct 19, 2026, and in every report of 2026. Per pound of lysine it was cheaper in only 10 of those weeks.
Can sunflower meal replace soybean meal for cattle?
Feedipedia's review finds it can, even with the hulls in, when the ration is balanced for protein and fiber. How much to use is a nutritionist's decision.