I once wrote a blog asking if your supplement could multi-task. While the intent of this blog is similar, it will be much more product specific, for the summer ahead. See if you can figure out which product I’m talking about in the paragraphs ahead.
A few weeks ago I mentioned that we had updated our line of CRYSTALYX® fly control blocks to include organic trace minerals. Given that much of the fly control season overlaps with the breeding season, this allows us to accomplish two tasks at once. You can control flies, and also supplement your herd with a premium mineral package containing organic trace minerals.
You benefit from the reduced labor, time and equipment investment that any self-fed supplement gives you. Why not take that a step farther, and eliminate the need to go back and pick up empty barrels, by using the new WeatherAll® BioBarrel® this summer? Our patent pending addition of a food grade edible wax to the outsides of the BioBarrel® has greatly increased its resistance to moisture, thus increasing its “Weatherability”. This is especially appealing in areas of higher rainfall.
Another task we can accomplish with CRYSTALYX® (this would be task #4 if you are counting) is the planned distribution of cattle grazing, without the need for fences or herding. Bear with me here, while I plagiarize directly from a CRYSTALYX® label: “Place containers in areas that achieve desired supplement intake. Once acceptable intake levels have been achieved, the containers may be moved to underutilized pasture areas to improve grazing distribution and forage utilization.” While you will want to start naive cattle on CRYSTALYX® near water, after 2-3 weeks, you can move the barrels to areas of your pasture where grass utilization is not as high as you like. This has the added benefit of reducing grazing pressure on riparian areas. Any of you that graze public lands like US Forest Service leases, National Grasslands or BLM pastures may be able use this “task” to increase the number of days you are allowed to graze a particular pasture.
The fifth task I would ask you to consider accomplishing with your chosen summer mineral program, has to do with face flies. You are likely aware that CRYSTALYX® has both IGR/Altosid® and Rabon® Oral Larvicide (ROLYX®) fly control formulas. And, you probably know that they both control the horn fly. However, it is often forgotten that, of these two, only Rabon® is labeled to also control face flies. Face flies are the main culprit in spreading bacterial organisms, like Moraxella bovis, which are the main cause of pinkeye in cattle. In all, Rabon® Oral Larvicide is labeled to control horn flies, face flies, house flies and stable flies in the manure of treated animals.
It is often assumed that Rabon® Oral Larvicide is more expensive to use than Altosid®. However, as you can see in the chart below, the way we have formulated CRYSTALYX® ROLYX® products for a lower intake than Altosid® products, the cost per head per day is similar for our mineral formulations and actually significantly cheaper for the protein formulation.
So, if you choose to use CRYSTALYX® ROLYX® MAX (containing Rabon®) in the WeatherAll® BioBarrel®, as your summer mineral program, you will be using 5 registered trademarks, and 3 patents! Now that’s exciting! But seriously, and more importantly, you will also be accomplishing 5 tasks at one time:
- A summer mineral program utilizing organic trace minerals
- Control of horn flies
- Reduced labor, time and equipment costs with the WeatherAll® BioBarrel®
- Managing cattle grazing distribution with strategic placement of CRYSTALYX®
- Control of face flies
If you happen to need fly control in times where grass tetany is a concern, you may want to consider ROLYX® Pro-Mag, which is also a protein and magnesium supplement.
As the summer wears on, you need to continue to use fly control measures until the first killing frost. By that time you may also need a protein supplement, and ROLYX® Pro-Mag can handle that for you as well. That would be task 6 & 7.
When it comes to multi-tasking, no other supplement comes close to accomplishing what CRYSTALYX® can do for you!
