Page 14 - MWC 04-22-2021s

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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