Welcome aboard Jim. There are some old studies that indicate that BG and IIRC HBG did as well on 32% as on higher protein feeds. I suspect that those studies were done in the context of cost efficiency for food growout and not max size. Much of the newer feed studies are proprietary and most of us have no access to the results. No doubt each environment is different and that leads to varying results. The task for us all is to present the info for consideration , all the info , in a balanced manor so that readers can make informed choices with knowledge of the risks. Glad you can join in the discussion and presentation.
I need to look back to see if they reared fish in ponds or not. That makes a huge difference. In a pond setting, as stock density increases relative to what the forage base provides, the feed quality becomes more important as you approach the feedlot state. At low stocking densities you can have feed being more impactful by simply improving productivity and quality of forage base.
Aquaculture Cooperative Research / Extension Lincoln University of Missouri
