Canola meal (CM), a by-product of the canola oil extraction process, has exceeded initial production expectations, reaching 7.65 million tonnes in Australia in 2025/26. In 2025, Australia ranked fourth globally in canola production. Canola meal is a cost-effective and more sustainable alternative to soybean meal (SBM); however, high inclusion levels may negatively affect growth performance. Consequently, the commercial inclusion of CM in broiler diets is typically below 10%. The present study evaluated dietary strategies to mitigate such effects, including the use of feed additives such as pellet binder, glutamate, potassium iodide, and sodium metabisulfite, and high inclusion of L-methionine in diets formulated with higher-CM inclusions. Canola meal inclusion at 14.0% in the grower phase and 18.0% in the finisher phase did not compromise growth performance and improved FCR during the 9-35 days post-hatch period, irrespective of feed additive supplementation, compared with a standard soybean meal-based diet (SSBM). Supplementation with higher L-methionine, sodium metabisulfite, or potassium iodide in high-canola meal diet (HCM) resulted in improved FCR than diets formulated with SSBM inclusions, particularly during the grower phase. Future research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying these additive effects. Overall, the present study demonstrated that CM inclusion can exceed typical inclusion limits in broiler diets, thereby enabling novel dietary strategies for sustainable chicken meat production in Australia. Primary audience: Nutritionists , Researchers , Feed manufacturers
Kandel et al. (Wed,) studied this question.