Page 14 - MWC 04-22-2021s
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Mineral Balance for                                                                        The Midwest Cattleman · April 22, 2021 · P14


          the Breeding Herd



            By David Lalman, Oklahoma State University Beef Extension Specialist
         All  grazing  cattle  will  like trying to figure out if
      benefit from a mineral sup- the fish scale reads 93 vs 94
      plementation  program. The  lb while new baby’s momma
      challenge is figuring out  is doing a great job convinc-
      what they are getting from  ing you that she is not bluff-
      the forage base, what they  ing. Mineral nutrition is not
      need, and how best to de- that exciting although per-
      liver  a supplement product  haps similar in the sense
      that fills the gap to meet  that calf birth weight re-
      their needs but doesn’t cre- cords, even if not perfect
      ate problems (often unseen  every time, have proven to
      and unknown) by deliver- be a powerful source of in-
      ing too much of something.  formation over the years.                 al composition during that  get macro and micro min-
      The challenge is that “what           A great tool to evaluate        time  of  year  and  your cow  erals. One might get start-
      they are getting” and “what  the mineral program is to                herds’ average or  “normal”  ed by simply sampling and
      they  need”  are constantly  conduct one or multiple                  mineral consumption pat- testing  harvested  hay  or
      changing throughout the  mineral balance exercises.                   tern during that same time  silage each year and devel-
      year.  Forage mineral  com- Especially early on in this               of year. Mineral balance ex- oping a spreadsheet where
      position varies by soil type,  process, producers should              ercises could be conducted  you can easily access and
      forage  species and  maturi- consider engaging their Ex-              as few times as once during  summarize those records
      ty,  current growing condi- tension Educator, veterinar-              the grazing season and once  over time. A more ambitious
      tions, fertilization history,  ian or a feed industry expert          for the winter feeding peri- approach might be to col-
      grazing management and  to assist or advise. A miner-                 od, or they can be complet- lect “hand-plucked” samples
      so on. Then a beef cow’s re- al balance exercise involves             ed on a quarterly or even a  from one or more pastures
      quirements for minerals  developing a simple, consis-                 monthly basis. Several com- each month. The idea of the
      fluctuate with the stages of  tent record keeping system              mercial nutrition companies  hand-plucking method is to
      production. Everything is a  to track critical pieces of              provide services to conduct  select only plants and parts
      moving target. It’s a little  information; forage miner-              these balance exercises and  of plants that you believe to
                                                                            follow up by recommending  represent what your cattle
                                                                            or manufacturing mineral  are currently grazing.
                         INSECT-A-SOCK...                                   formulations customized to           The OSU Cowculator nu-
           REDUCE FLIES, LICE, TICKS, MOSQUITOES                            your operation’s needs. You  trition evaluation program
                                                     USA PATENT #8,353,260  can find a handy phone app  (http://beef.okstate.edu/
                                                                            to  track mineral consump- pages/calculators) is a great
                                                                            tion at: http://beef.okstate. tool to simplify a mineral
                                                                            edu/pages/calculators.            balance exercise.  The feed
                                                                              Most commercial live- library allows one to enter
                                                                            stock nutrition laboratories  their own forage nutritive
                                                                            provide forage mineral com- values and mineral supple-
                                                                            position analytical services  ment products/formulations.
                                                                            for a reasonable fee. For ex- The “Balance” page provides
                                                                            ample, our lab here at OSU  guidance  to  estimate  daily
                                                                            charges $12 per sample to                       continued on page 22










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