I'm not Soapweed, tlakota, but I can tell you that when you are on the program you will see breedback in the first cycle above 85% and as high as 93% as reported by our customers (some who read this forum) and can substantiate what I posted.
Trouble with putting out 3 oz at a time for the cattle is that the hogs eat it and the more timid cattle don't get any.
I called my Area Sales Manager about this and here is what he had to say.
He says you didn't get trace mineral (copper and zinc mostly) absorption out of the Kaydee mineral and your cows are trying to replenish the copper and zinc (trace minerals) in their liver. Right now it is important not to let the cattle run out of mineral. When the are trying to build liver stores, every time they run out, they have to start over again. What you are experiencing is not unusual when switching to Vigortone mineral. Many times (not in your case since you know what your cows were eating on the other mineral) the cows were eating hardly any mineral and when they started on Vigortone, the ate it well. When figuring consumption in this situation, we find that many times they aren't overeating the Vigortone, it is just that they weren't eating enough of the other product.
There are some things to do to that might help this until they get their liver store up where they need to be.
How many feeders do you have out? You might increase the feeders which will change consumption. It's interesting that if you add feeders, cattle will cut back on the mineral consumption.
Also, where are your feeders located? If they are close to water, move them further away from water. There are so many varibles that I can't see unless I was there.
I hear you all about the price of the mineral. All mineral has gone up because of the demand and lack of supply for phosphorus, etc.
Di cal has gone from $240 ton (raw) to over $1000/ton.
Soapweed, the difference in cost between 3V2S and 3V4S is mostly because of the 1% difference in phosphorus, not the salt. Phos is the highest priced ingredient in mineral. We have some mineral now that contains 2% phos to keep the price down. I sell some of it and it has worked fine for the people who use it at a specific time and in specific conditons throughout the year. We have many now who use a 3.5% phos mineral in the spring and don't go to a higher phos mineral until the grass dries out.
We have worked together with our customers to help figure out how to get the most out of their mineral dollar. There are ways to do that; you aren't locked in to one specific formula. Times change and we must change with them. Hopefully, this supply/demand for the ingredients will ease--but who knows?
I have always said (and found out first hand) that Vigortone is a PERFORMANCE mineral. Cattle do perform on it--as many cattle producers here have attested to.
And NR, you are correct, cattle will get by without mineral. They won't die (well, some might
)--but you won't see the performance you are used to seeing either. It's a management choice for sure.
I'm going to be away from my computer for a few days, so I won't be able to respond to any other posts here.
Hope this helps!!
