Mineral Quiestion
Drew Carlson
Gene Schriefer
Cattle need a certain level of minerals, if the forage/feed is not supplying it because the soil is deficient, if it is a plant essential nutrient, fertilize the soil. Testing your for forage of Calcium and phosphorus to ensure the livestock are getting adequate levels from grazing. Micronutrients get rather expensive to fertilize soil with, so supplements the cattle makes better economic sense.
Cafeteria style comes and goes as a fad about every 15 year it resurfaces. This is the 3rd or 4th time in my lifetime it has come around. Livestock consume minerals based on flavor not need until there is a major nutrient deficit, then they “might” crave some of the off/bitter flavored minerals. Cattle could care less about color. There’s some research on this in 70’s and 80’s, most concluded it was not an effective means of providing minerals. Often I hear from vet’s that get called in for some herd issues and blood work will reveal excessive deficiencies of certain minerals from herds that have used them for longer periods of time.
I use kelp in summer and a Se Salt/complete mineral mix other times of the year. There is a lot of variation in mineral content of kelp. It’s also very expensive, so unless you are getting a market premium, I would find it hard to justify the expense year round.
There is a lot of variation between farms and within herds for mineral nutrient requirements, and I see farms spending way too much in mineral supplements that are well in excessive of livestock requirements. 50 lbs/head/year of salt + mineral in most situations will be adequate.
Gene Schriefer 😷
Ag Educator
Extension
UW-Madison
Dodgeville, WI 53533
“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ~ Soren Kierkegaard
The University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension provides affirmative action and equal opportunity in education, programming and employment for all qualified persons regardless of race, color, gender, creed, disability, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy, marital or parental, arrest or conviction record or veteran status
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GrassWorks: Ask-a-Grazier" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to
grassworks-ask-a-g...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/grassworks-ask-a-grazier/CAK9e2pJoPh53BYUSZmTJuxrqJKdiJOwF42ESZMjMeXdUgX1%3DFA%40mail.gmail.com.
amy fenn
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/grassworks-ask-a-grazier/DM6PR06MB4587366D7A8162354784ED97FED10%40DM6PR06MB4587.namprd06.prod.outlook.com.
Komiskey, Michelle - NRCS, Sparta, WI
If interested, see the website below. On Jan 12 there is a zoom meeting with the topic of “Beef: An update on Mineral and Vitamin Needs for Beef Cattle” by the Division of Extension UW-Madison.
https://extension.wisc.edu/agriculture/farm-ready-research/
Michelle Komiskey
District Conservationist
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/grassworks-ask-a-grazier/CAKMPwzdR3n5yZaQ%3DzFPs-YQmgmyco%2BYyKnp4ziY8U-f8e7OqOg%40mail.gmail.com.
This electronic message contains information generated by the USDA solely for the intended recipients. Any unauthorized interception of this message or the use or disclosure of the information it contains may violate the law and subject the violator to civil or criminal penalties. If you believe you have received this message in error, please notify the sender and delete the email immediately.
Gene Schriefer
Our soils are devoid of selenium so here I need to use this year round. In June, I switch from the complete mineral mixed with Se Salt to Kelp mixed with the Se Salt, even though we vaccinate against pink eye we still had severe breaks, the vaccine only has two of the most prevalent strains of pink eye and likely not the one present in our region. Adding the kelp prior to fly season reduces pink eye to a very low level, the Se Salt serves as the limiter to intake, which is why it’s mixed with the complete mineral mix as well. After a freeze I switch back to the original mix.
Make sense?
Gene
From: grassworks-a...@googlegroups.com <grassworks-a...@googlegroups.com>
On Behalf Of greenvi...@gmail.com
Sent: Tuesday, January 5, 2021 6:13 PM
To: Gene Schriefer <gene.sc...@wisc.edu>
Cc: dcar...@gmail.com; grassworks-a...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Mineral Quiestion
Good question Drew & interesting reply Gene! Gene - why kelp in summer...as opposed to se/salt/complete year-round? Thanks guys! -amy.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/grassworks-ask-a-grazier/CAKMPwzdR3n5yZaQ%3DzFPs-YQmgmyco%2BYyKnp4ziY8U-f8e7OqOg%40mail.gmail.com.