As we close out the year, I have heard many people comment that the best day of 2020 may be Dec. 31, when we said goodbye to this year and welcome the new year with open arms. We will surely not forget 2020, which has been a year for the history books. I’m sure we can all think of a long list of challenges that this year has presented — but what if, instead, we focus on the positives this year has brought us?
The long history of CRYSTALYX Brand Supplements
The history of CRYSTALYX low-moisture blocks goes back more than 44 years, to a patent originally obtained by Carl O. McKenzie. Legend has it that he got the idea while observing how hard candy was made at Knott’s Berry Farm. The patent was submitted in 1974 and was approved on June 1, 1976. This patent describes the batch process by which we still make CRYSTALYX today.
Blueprint: Improving health and productivity in beef and dairy herds
Now that election day is behind us, this seems like a great time to change focus and look at what we can do together to improve the health and productivity of our livestock. I enjoy reading books on history and am amazed at how much dissention there was in the early days of our American history (not dissimilar to where we are today), when political parties were just getting started.
Agriculture-focused youth programs
The disrupted state of our world during 2020 cannot be doubted and will definitely have a major impact on many young people who had hoped to show animals at their local fairs this summer.
Don't miss the new and improved CRYSTALYX supplementation guide
CRYSTALYX is the brand you know and has been the original low-moisture block supplement for over 45 years. In that time, the CRYSTALYX brand has evolved greatly and has established itself as a leader in the self-fed supplement industry through both innovation and application.
How self-fed supplements increase both cattle and producer efficiency
We have often written about the delivery costs of hand-fed supplements adding greatly to the total cost of a supplement program. Yet, many times those delivery costs do not get figured into the cost of the supplement.
Small ruminant supplement options
Do you supplement your sheep and goats? Do they have access to the nutrients they need each day? As someone who is personally involved in the small-ruminant industry, I have a firsthand understanding of the lack of good-quality, palatable supplements formulated specifically for sheep or goats.
A Blueprint for fetal programming
Fetal and developmental programming have been big buzzwords for several years now. If you don’t know what they are, a quick Google search will take you to numerous articles, studies and blogs on the subject. Fetal programming, in short, is the theory that the maternal environment during gestation can have a lasting impact on the offspring.
Goodbye winter, hello heat stress: Tips on keeping cattle comfortable
While some areas of the country are still getting over the long-suffered winter weather conditions, other parts of the U.S. have warmed up to typical mid-spring temperatures. As I write this from my home in Virginia, we are expecting highs in the 80s for most of this week — which means that livestock here and in other parts of the South are already experiencing some form of heat stress.
CRYSTALYX through the generations
CRYSTALYX® Brand Supplements have existed since the late 1970s. Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of things work well and have watched our customers, young and old alike, succeed with CRYSTALYX programs.
