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Better Book Your Mineral Now

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loomixguy

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Feb 12, 2007
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The Canadian mine which is the source of 60-80% of the world's phosphorus comes from has flooded, and more than likely will be permanently closed. Consequently, the phos in your mineral and any phos in your fertilizer will be even more dear.

Might be a good idea to book as much mineral as you can afford and can store. It ain't gonna get any cheaper, folks.

When even ADM is having a difficult time acquiring phos, things don't look good.

Govern yourselves accordingly.
 
Heard through the grapevine that the PEET'S rep was going around yesterday trying to scare everybody by telling them mineral cost was going to increase 150-200% in the near future. I don't think he got many bookings, though. I know for a fact that all ADM mineral will increase $80/ton, or 2 bucks a bag, on April 1.
 
All I know is what I received from ADM reps, and later confirmed by the CEO of LOOMIX.

To paraphrase an email I received: We are being hit with incredible increases in both phos and urea. Almost no company is willing to book anything at this point because the prices continue to escalate at an incredible rate.

Govern yourself accordingly.
 
I checked out the price of tubs on my ADM pricesheet last night.

COST was enough to make me vapor lock. Add the margin to it, and you are looking at 40 cents a pound!
 
I've leased my uncle's cow's 2 years ago before me coming along those cows have never been vaccinated for anything and they have never had any mineral and never been poured or wormed.These cows and mine have remained on this schedule of no pour-on's,no vaccination's I do feed mineral but that is beginning to be thought through also.

Salt and grass may be their only input's in the future.You can't buy your way to profit's.It's been 3 years since I've poured or vaccinated my cow's and they look pretty good they seem to build up a resistance to the lice and they keep calveing each spring.I think the drug companies have us all buffaloed on what all we need.Go to a couple beef meetings buy this and buy that and when the smoke clears your broke.I have decided that if these companies are going to bone a guy for maximum profit's I just quit useing any of their product's.Raise cattle that can adapt to the environment if they can't make it sell'em.They have a drug for just about every man made problem there is take away all these input's and see which cow's adapt keep their offspring.
 
Denny said:
I've leased my uncle's cow's 2 years ago before me coming along those cows have never been vaccinated for anything and they have never had any mineral and never been poured or wormed.These cows and mine have remained on this schedule of no pour-on's,no vaccination's I do feed mineral but that is beginning to be thought through also.

Salt and grass may be their only input's in the future.You can't buy your way to profit's.It's been 3 years since I've poured or vaccinated my cow's and they look pretty good they seem to build up a resistance to the lice and they keep calveing each spring.I think the drug companies have us all buffaloed on what all we need.Go to a couple beef meetings buy this and buy that and when the smoke clears your broke.I have decided that if these companies are going to bone a guy for maximum profit's I just quit useing any of their product's.Raise cattle that can adapt to the environment if they can't make it sell'em.They have a drug for just about every man made problem there is take away all these input's and see which cow's adapt keep their offspring.
Click to expand...
WOW....excellent post!!
 
Denny,

I agree with nearly everything you said, except for the pouring bit. Cows get worms and lice. I would rather take care of it early than feed the worms my grass, and I hate to see patches of hair missing from lice. I don't like to be itchy, and I am sure they don't either. To each his own.

We don't feed any mineral in the summer months. We have tried, but they won't eat it. They drink from running water throughout our entire ranch and I guess they are getting what they need there. Now in the late winter early spring they get Loomix. Last year they started around Jan.1, but this year we haven't started it yet. They are fat and only grazing and drinking the same water, and no hay supplement. Seems to work for us.

We normally don't vaccinate the cows either, but we did last year, we felt we should as the year before we had a few slip their calves, and a few calves with weaker immune systems.
 
BRG said:
Denny,

I agree with nearly everything you said, except for the pouring bit. Cows get worms and lice. I would rather take care of it early than feed the worms my grass, and I hate to see patches of hair missing from lice. I don't like to be itchy, and I am sure they don't either. To each his own.

We don't feed any mineral in the summer months. We have tried, but they won't eat it. They drink from running water throughout our entire ranch and I guess they are getting what they need there. Now in the late winter early spring they get Loomix. Last year they started around Jan.1, but this year we haven't started it yet. They are fat and only grazing and drinking the same water, and no hay supplement. Seems to work for us.

We normally don't vaccinate the cows either, but we did last year, we felt we should as the year before we had a few slip their calves, and a few calves with weaker immune systems.
Click to expand...

I know what your saying about the lice but if you read all the studie's on pour on's they work about 1/2 the time.My cows got pretty lousy last winter and my uncle's did'nt all were ran together now this winter out of 260 cows there are maybe 10 that are missing a bit of hair.To me they seem to build up some immunity if left to their own vices.
 
The problem with lice is that they have survived since the beginning of time and cattle do need something to help keep them controlled. As for the pour-ons only working on lice and grubs 50% of the time, I have never heard that. NEVER; and I attend lots of meetings on this type of thing. Now it is known that pour-ons only kill 50% of the worms, but lice and grubs is a different story. They are easy to kill.

In fact, years ago we were told by Dr.Don Bliss AND he folks selling pour-on that just waving the stuff over the back of the cattle is enough to kill grubs; and a 1/5 of a dose will kill lice. Now that the price has gone wayyy down, you can afford to use the full dosage. But you still can use 1/5 of a dose to get lice and grubs if you want.

Don Bliss, one of the world's formost authorities on parasites says that
the only way to kill lice totally is to pour them TWICE 13-14 days apart
to kill the life cycle of the lice. He says that is the way it is, regardless of what you use. The way I understand it, that is why the pour-on's had to take back their lice guarantee. I think you get the biting lice when you pour the first time, then in 2 weeks the eggs hatch and by pouring them again, you get those as well. But most of us don't do that, because who wants to run cattle through the chute again? So we mostly get by with one application.

Cold weather seems to cause more lice and of course, as any parasite, they attack poorer, thinner cows more than fat, healthy ones.

I know, I don't want lice on my cows. Just pulls them down and doesn't do anything but harm their immune system.
 
I did buy a ton of Vigortone 3V2S on Feb 21. $19.70/bag with 2 bags "free" made the final cost $18.76/bag. The 42 bags cost $788. I had 16 bags left from Aug '07 which actually cost more back then.

I'll go against the tide of this discussion and say I still believe good mineral doesn't cost, it pays. I also will keep using pour-ons and giving shots because that's what the buyers want.
 
What do you guys have to pay for a 16-16 mineral with 100-125 ppm selenium + bovatec, is anyone else using a min close to this? In my area this is costing $32.00 a 44 lb bag
 

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