Soybeans have a long history as a nutritious hay and silage crop. Early research extensively investigated forage yield, adaptability to various maturity zones, and nutritional values. Evaluation and breeding with diverse soybean accessions continued to optimize soybean forage yield and quality. There is still interest by breeders in developing more desirable forage soybeans, depending on market demand, and the existing interests of crop and livestock producers. In this review, we provide an update compiled from recent publications on the use and development of soybean as a forage crop.

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Wild soybeans (Glycine soja Sieb. & Zucc.) are generally higher in protein and lower in oil with potential advantages as forage than cultivated soybeans. This study was conducted to evaluate forage yield and quality of wild soybeans. Three wild soybeans were compared to three cultivated soybeans for forage yield and quality at the full bloom stage, full pod stage, and full seed stage (R6) of development. The wild soybeans had significantly lower forage yield than cultivated soybeans at R6 which was determined to be the best stage to harvest based on forage quantity and quality. Wild soybean also had lower crude fat (2.0%) and crude protein (17.7%) concentration than cultivated soybean (5.7 and 21.3%, respectively) at the R6 stage. There were no significant differences for neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber and relative feed value among growth stages between cultivated and wild soybean. The neutral detergent fiber was 40.2 and 40.4%, acid detergent fiber was 26.1% and 27.5%, and relative feed value was 161 and 158 at R6 stage for cultivated and wild soybean, respectively. Wild soybean had less forage yield at harvest time but had similar forage quality comparable to cultivated soybean. However, wild soybeans have smaller and softer stems for potentially improved palatability and feed intake than cultivated soybeans. Therefore, it will be a good genetic source to improve forage characteristics of soybean.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by  

• Comparative Analysis of Compositional Equivalence in Drought-Tolerant Genetically Modified Soybeans
  Ha-Jung Kang, Hyoun-Min Park, Sung-Dug Oh, Ye-Jin Jang, Jong-Chan Park, Seon-Woo Oh, Sang-Gu Lee, Soo-Yun Park, An-Cheol Chang
  Korean Journal of Breeding Science.2025; 57(4): 445.     CrossRef
• Contribution of Photosynthetic, Root and Phenotypic Traits to Soybean Plant Height
  Rongzhen Suo, Mingjiu Wang, Tianqi Zhao
  Sustainability.2024; 16(7): 2886.     CrossRef
• Selection of Soybean Germplasm for Mixed Cropping with Corn on the Same Row to Produce Better Yield and Value-Added Forage
  Jin-Dong Seo, Minsu Kim, Yowook Song, Danim Jo, Jong Tae Song, Jong Duk Kim, Chan Ho Kwon, Hyun Jo, Jeong-Dong Lee
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• Effects of soybean silage on feeding behavior, performance, and meat quality of lambs
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• Genetic analysis of shoot fresh weight in a cross of wild (G. soja) and cultivated (G. max) soybean
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