So What’s the New Normal?

Some may say what is normal, period?  An average can be the mean of two extremes; I guess put another way it translates to volatility.  The new normal in the feed and livestock business would probably be defined as higher costs/prices and ever increased volatility or price swings.  This has definitely been the case in the past 4-5 years and one could write volumes on the reasons why; some are short term causes (drought) and others long term (market demand driven, political, etc...).  These higher costs and values are basically the upward shift into a new level we see today and are likely here to stay.  This volatility can create opportunity but can also pose great danger.  Just ask anyone in the grain trading business.

The beef cow-calf market has been somewhat insulated from the higher cost simply due to the fact that calf prices have kept strong and cow-calf profitability remains as good as it’s been in a long time.  Some however would argue against this with more recent events.  The 2012 drought (I hope we don’t soon start referring it to the 2012-2013 drought, which actually began in 2011 for a lot of the U.S.) has pushed forage and pasture rent cost into unprecedented levels.  With Hay prices at $200/ton it is costing $3.00 a day to feed a beef cow.

CRYSTALYX^® Fits The New Normal Better Than The Old

CRYSTALYX^® has been marketed for over 3 decades and a lot has changed but a lot has also stayed the same.  CRYSTALYX^® still has the same beneficial characteristics. It’s palatable to livestock, transportable, predictably consumed, great for forage utilization of low quality feeds, an excellent nutrient delivery system and user friendly. These are the CRYSTALYX^® fundamentals and they haven’t changed much.  In fact, given the input cost beef cattle producers are faced with today, CRYSTALYX^® makes more economical sense now than it did 10-15 years ago when its cost was much less.  Below is a chart that illustrates this point.  Nearly 80% of the cost of CRYSTALYX^® is paid for in simple forage utilization benefit.  The rest is a real inexpensive way to get what a supplement should also offer: performance, nutrition and management benefits.   It pays to use a supplement to improve the use of expensive hay.  In many operations, this has been the best way to conserve feed resources and help manage overall cost.

What’s New With CRYSTALYX^® In The New Normal – It’s Even Better

During the past 15-20 years, a lot is the same but there are now more applications and data for CRYSTALYX^®. It was once fed to brood cows as a fall and winter protein supplement.  This application is still one of the main uses; however numerous new applications have been added such as mineral delivery, breeding, stress relief, fly control products, and a Bovatec^® self-fed product clearance.  In addition, the container choices have expanded too with the most notable option being the 200 lb. CRYSTALYX^® BioBarrel^®.  Fifteen years ago, CRYSTALYX^® didn’t provide a website with numerous tools for producers, nutrition blogs, Body Condition Scoring App’s for smart phones, etc… If you really look close, there’s more to CRYSTALYX^® than just a supplement that comes in a tub.  That’s pretty much all the competition has.  CRYSTALYX^® is still the best thing going, even more so today.

For more information about “normalizing” your nutrition program visit a CRYSTALYX^® dealer, representative or www.crystalyx.com.