Minerals

[cowman]

I used to always buy all my salt and mineral from Great west feeds. Now the problem was on some pasture land the cattle would eat me out of house and home in salt/mineral and on some other pasture they ate very little. So it was always a balancing act.
Then I found a local plant that mixes the mineral however you want it. The owner is a nutritionalist and very up on what you might need. The plant is Innisfail minerals ltd. and the owner Don McCallum. He actually reduced my salt/mineral costs with a better product. He supplies many large retailers but is happy to provide you with a few bags. He lives on site and is always open for business.

[WoolyBear]

I have a question about where in the pasture, in relation to the watering site the mineral was place. IF it was nearer to the water, then the cows would spend more time near it as they lounged after drinking. They would then eat less if it were further away from the water.

There could be a salt content issue in the grass, the soil, or the water too to think about. A relatively reliable animal nutritionist that I once heard speak said that cattle have a "notion of need" of salt. Thus he said add salt if they are not eating enough, and move it away from water if they are eating too much.

Just a thought......... hope it helps.

[cowman]

Thankyou Woolybear. Yes it definitely was an issue of salt in the grass/soil. On the one quarter where they eat little it is very salty. So I have two different blends. I basically was doing this before...mixing more salt with the mineral on the high useage pasture, less on the low useage pasture. He boosted the content of certain trace minerals so the cattle were recieving enough on the low useage pasture.
I always keep the salt/mineral close to the water as I want them to eat as much as possible. I've always found that high quality mineral is a good insurance of healthy cattle.
Don told me about a fellow, who had been feeding a lot of silage, that was having some major problems with cows going down right after calving. Apparently he got cheap and wasn't feeding any mineral, just salt! I guess the wreck is in full swing right now and he's going to lose a pile of cows.

[WoolyBear]

We had heard of a similar wreck, where the farmer had put his barley silage up too ripe. The calcium content then was so low that the cattle were calcium deficient. Calcium is a relatively cheap mineral. So many people seem to be pushed to a 1:1 mineral and they aren't getting the right ratio of Ca and P. Sure hope things work out soon for them.