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In one of his recent blogs, Dan Colling explained the “large” benefit that you can get from a “small” amount of protein supplement on dry or mature pastures.

This week I’d like to talk about another benefit of self-fed protein supplements. While this benefit of CRYSTALYX^® does impact the nutritional status of your herd, it is primarily a behavioral modification of your cattle.

We have known for years that cattle will seek out palatable supplements, and even salt, in pastures.  Research by Dr. Derek Bailey at Havre, MT, has actually quantified this effect. It shows low-moisture block (LMB) supplements, like CRYSTALYX^®, to be much more effective than salt alone at luring cattle to underutilized areas of pastures.

From the table below, we can see that grazing cattle spent a larger percentage of their total time within 100, 400 and 600 yards of LMB (CRYSTALYX^®) and salt than just salt alone. This difference was found to be statistically significant.

During periods of drought, or when grasses naturally mature (as with stockpiled forage) CRYSTALYX^®  can offer you two distinct advantages:

1.) It can increase the digestibility of a low quality forage

2.) It will lure your cattle to the underutilized areas of a pasture where they may not normally travel to. 

During periods of drought, naturally occurring sources of water may dry up. This can leave many pastures with areas that cattle avoid due to lack of water. Research has shown cattle will travel over a mile from a water source, to consume CRYSTALYX^®. While the cattle are there, they will also graze the adjacent forage.

Does your current supplement multi-task? CRYSTALYX^® does. Put the CRYSTALYX^® benefits from nutrition and behavior to work for you.  

CRYSTALYX^® Brand self-fed supplements are an excellent way to maximize your returns from a supplement program that’s available 24/7, while minimizing your investment in time, labor and equipment.

The price we pay for the performance we get determines if there is a profit to be made. Prices of all inputs have gone up, some much more than others. Cattle cost more and pasture rents are higher. Pasturing methods and feed supplements we have historically used need to be evaluated to determine if the economics are still valid. Assuming you have adequate water, the amount and quality of available grass is the greatest determining factor of animal performance. 

No grass has the perfect balance of nutrients for any animal grazing it. We can improve the performance from any grass consumed with the proper trace mineral supplement.  As grass matures, a small amount of protein supplement can improve performance of the animal and the grass consumed. Grazing patterns can be influenced by trace mineral and protein supplement placement in order to improve pasture utilization.

If you utilized a distillers based program to maintain or grow calves over the late winter and early spring you needed a trace mineral supplement with high copper levels. And grass is almost always low in copper.  Copper is important in several of the animal’s biological systems so it should always be supplemented. Oklahoma State University research has shown that calves have an increased growth rate when provided a trace mineral supplement during grazing. And OSU has shown additional response when using a feed additive mixed with the balanced trace mineral mix.

Supplementing with one of the FDA approved feed additives such as Rumensin^®, Bovatec^®, or Gainpro^® is one of the easiest ways to improve gain on grass. It has been proven time and time again; any of these three can be used in many programs to improve gain from 0.14 to over 0.25 pounds per head per day. The cost to supplement these should be under 25 cents per pound of gain, which includes the cost of the trace mineral. 

So whether you own the cattle or are supplementing on a cost of gain, providing a mineral supplement with any of these three additives should make you more money.  There are also natural feed ingredients that have been shown to help with animal performance. Tasco^® is an organic feed ingredient approved by many Natural Beef Programs.

Fortunately, trace mineral supplements have not increased in price nearly as much as other inputs. The current cattle market means the response to mineral supplements and the performance improving additives they can contain is now worth more than ever.  Now is not the time to quit feeding trace minerals to “save money.” Consult with your Ridley feed supplier to determine the best options for your cattle and management situations.

Moisture levels still determine how much grass is available for us to graze. What we do to maximize the use of that grass is up to us.

As we near the end of the winter feeding period, sometimes we have to make tough choices regarding use of moldy hay. Horses and other non-ruminants are most susceptible to mold toxicity and should not be fed moldy hay except under the most dire situations.

Ruminants are protected to some extent because the rumen destroys most mycotoxins, but they are still susceptible to chronic symptoms, especially pregnant animals and those under stress.  We can all agree that feeding moldy hay is not most desirable, but what can you do if it is your only option?

The first strategy is to dilute the mold with “clean” feed. In the absence of good quality hay, high fiber feedstuffs such as soyhull pellets, dried distillers grains or baled corn stover can help your livestock eat less of the offending moldy hay. Another strategy is to inspect all hay and feed the worst hay to the least susceptible animals (mature male ruminants, open mature female ruminants). Another strategy is to use temporary fencing to take advantage of new spring growth in non-pasture areas to reduce reliance on hay. It also goes without saying that well-fed livestock that are not lacking in protein, energy, minerals or vitamins in their diet will be much more capable of withstanding a temporary encounter with mycotoxins than animals that are lacking.

Mold causes problems in two main ways, through spores or mycotoxins. Spores can cause respiratory problems when breathed in, especially for horses. Mycotoxins negatively affect a variety of systems in the body. Most molds are harmless and do not produce m

ycotoxins; however, when feeding moldly hay one must assume that mycotoxins could be present and watch carefully for the following symptoms:
    *reduced feed intake or feed refusal
    *diarrhea
    *lowered fertility and abortions
    *lethargy and increased morbidity
    *suppressed immune system leading to lack of response to medications and vaccinations

Have you faced a similar situation in your livestock operation this winter? If so, let us know how you dealt with it.