I am located 32 miles from Burwell, and am familiar with the products and with Vince. I ranch with my dad, who has been feeding Ag-West Mineral since 1973. At that time, he was still working with Dr. McDonalds Feed Fort Dodge, Iowa.
I'm just 25 years old, so I can't say I remember when we started on the program, but I would like to provide some insight on the products from my own personal experience. I don't know if you were thinking more along the mineral lines or thinking of feeding a cube or pellet, but I will share some thoughts.
We have always been very satisfied with the mineral and range cube products. The extruded cube that was referred to in an earlier post was hands down the best cube we had ever fed. The cattle did extremely well with it. I don't like to question someone's or a company's integrity on an internet forum, so I won't mention any names, but the extruded cube formula was abandoned over greed, and it wasn't on Vince's end. Another local feed company began producing the cubes for Vince and delivering them. We started noticing a decline in the product quality. They started to spoil quickly, and were often just mush. Also, anytime your Welker bulk bin starts holding more ton of cubes than it ever has before, you know either your bin is growing, or the feed is being watered down. As more and more ranchers complained about the feed, Vince realized that the company making the cube were adding more water to the recipe and not being honest. The agreement between them had been mostly done on a handshake, and without the paperwork to back up Vince's claims, and with a top lawyer from a very well known feed company that the other dealer marketed products for, Vince came out on the short end of the lawsuit. It cost him his recipe, customer lists, and very substantial monetary loss. All of that seemed pretty minimal to Vince though, as what he struggled with the most was the fact that people were questioning his integrity. I can still remember being in the courtroom as the opposing side, under oath, stood up and told lie after lie.
We are a range/cubes outfit, and mainly use 3 of Vince's mineral, 227, 228, and a 2010 mineral. We usually feed his cubes, but with them being made in Martin, South Dakota, the freight really adds up. We will sometimes feed cubes from Progressive Nutrition, Norfolk, NE.
We are just like every other ranch--tight margins and always looking to generate more with less. We have tried different minerals at times to compare, but have never found one that works quite as well. We also take in a large number of cattle on summer grass, so we put out alot of different brands of mineral for customers. One thing I always notice right away is how the Ag-West mineral doesn't set up hard like most minerals after a rain. I have put out many brands that almost require a pick axe. Also, once on the Ag-West mineral program, consumption is very consistent.
It's hard to know what the mineral does and doesn't do when you have been almost exclusively on the same program for many years, but when we have done trials, we have noticed notable differences in hair coat/quality, conception, etc. We get a large percentage of the cows bred back early year after year, and I contribute a lot of that to having a good mineral program. We have had trouble with sand eating in new calves in the spring, and tried the 228 mineral with a Mos product this past year. It really seemed to help and we will be feeding it again this year. We fed 2-2.5 lbs. of his cubes, the 228/Mos Product, and prairie hay to our 1st calf thru last calf heifers and got along really good.
We continue to try and stretch our grazing season out in the fall and winter. We have a Jorgensen based (Ideal, SD) cowherd, which are considered by many to be easier-fleshing type cattle. We have found that if we can keep good grass in front of the spring-calving cows along with a good mineral, they will do pretty well in the fall even without cubes. As it gets colder, we start feeding them some cubes every other day, and as the snow gets deep, we will put hay out for them.
If you have any specific questions on mineral or pelleted feed, feel free to ask. I would also invite you to call and talk to Vince himself if you haven't done so. He is very passionate about what he does. Most of what he has learned about his mineral and feeds has been self taught, and from trial and error. He has his own herd of cattle, so he has first hand experience with his products. I really believe it is his sincere wish to keep his products as affordable as possible, and to see customers succeed with them.
Devyn Ballagh
Amelia, NE
