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With new
research becoming available each year, cattle producers have the ability
to select products that will provide needed nutrients to cattle to
maximize their genetic potential. One such area that is gaining a lot of
research attention is in the area of mineral/vitamin mixes.
In the
past, I have provided you information concerning mineral and vitamin
functions, deficiencies, and requirements for cattle. While I hope that
this information has been valuable, I am still visiting with farmers who
are feeding a mixture of dicalcium phosphate and trace mineral salt as
their mineral /vitamin program.
As stated
in the past, minerals and vitamins play a key role in cattle nutrition.
These elements make up 3% to 5% of animal body dry weight and make up
one group of essential nutrients required by the animal.
Minerals
are classified as either macro or microminerals based upon the level in
the animals body and the amounts in the diet of the animals.
Macrominerals are calcium, phosphorus, sodium, chlorine, magnesium,
potassium, and sulfur. These 7 minerals play a key role in bone and
teeth formation, growth, immunity, reproduction, body functions, protein
synthesis, and prevention of nutritional disorders such as milk fever,
and grass tetney. Iron, copper, zinc, manganese, cobalt, iodine,
selenium, molybdenum, and fluorine are classified as microminerals and
play a key role in immunity, growth, reproduction, hair and coat,
central nervous system development, and appetite.
Vitamins
are also a major player in the efficiency of your cowherd. Vitamin A, D,
and E are most looked at in the diets of cattle and are required for
tissue maintenance, growth, immunity, reproduction, and nutrient
absorption.
As you
can see, minerals and vitamins play a key role in the proficiency of
your herd and should be provided on a daily basis. With this in mind,
lets look at a 50%/50% mixture of dicalcium phosphate and trace mineral
salt. This mixture, while an improvement over trace mineral or plain
salt will not meet all of the daily needs of your cattle. This mixture
will provide you a mix that is 11% calcium, 9% phosphorus, 29% chlorine,
18% sodium and 5000 ppm of iron. At these levels, normal consumption of
this mineral mix will meet the daily requirements for these minerals.
This mix will not meet the daily requirement for magnesium, potassium,
sulfur, cobalt, copper, iodine, manganese, selenium, or vitamins A, D,
and E.
The next
consideration is what forages will provide that the cattle are
consuming. The forage will mimic soil conditions for the area where you
are living. Also, fertilization will play a large part on the
composition of the forage you have available to your herd.
What this
means is that you could possibly meet part of the additional
requirements not found in the dicalcium phosphate/trace mineral salt
mix. What this also means is that you will not meet the needs of your
cattle if the soil conditions are deficient in those elements. Alabama
soils are deficient in copper and selenium and you will not get these
two minerals from the mineral mix. Copper is very important in calf
immunity while selenium is very important in cow reproductive health and
efficiency. You will also be deficient in vitamins as well. These
deficiencies will affect immunity, reproduction, and development.
The next
consideration before going to a complete mineral will be cost
differences of this mineral mix compared to a complete mineral. The
dicalcium phosphate/trace mineral salt mix will cost you around $8.00 a
bag. A complete mineral will cost you around $10.00 a bag.
Are the
advantages worth a cost difference of $2.00 a bag? While $2.00 a bag may
seem like a lot, if you break it down to a cost per head per day basis,
it will only cost you less than 2 cents per head per day to provide a
complete mineral. That’s less than $7.00 per cow per year extra to
provide all the needed minerals and vitamins for reproductive and
immunity efficiency in the form to increase absorption and utilization.
A 50 cowherd would only need to have one more cow bred or one less sick
cow/calf to pay for the extra cost of the complete mineral. While it is
easy to see that a mixture of dicalcium phosphate and trace mineral salt
offers advantages over a plain salt diet, it is also very easy to see
that a complete mineral offers distinct advantages over this mix.
If you
have any questions or comments or if you would like me to answer a
specific question in an upcoming article, please contact me at jimmyh@alafarm.com.
Jimmy
Hughes is AFC’s animal nutritionist.
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