Expensive mineral

[Kato]

Hubby went to town to get mineral today, and it's up by $11.00 a bag! :shock: :shock: :shock: They told him at the feedmill that the high price of phosporus has worked it's way back into the mineral. Wow!

Anyone else found the price has gone up yet?

 

[Silver]

I've heard the same thing here. I guess "all natural beef" is gonna take on a new meaning, around here anyway :?

 

[nebraskadave]

was told earlier this spring it was gonna take a big jump so we ordered in a good jag, the price jump was double what was expected, glad I got in what I did beforehand.

 

[cowsense]

My last order of Cargill "Right-Now" bronze cost $36.00 a bag......emerald at $31.00. It's gonna be tough to keep a mineral program going at these prices. While we've had excellent results with this mineral it maybe is time to do some shopping around!

 

[Denny]

The Vigortone I sell has went up around $3 a bag give or take.Sounds like some companies are useing it as a liscense to steal.I can get you into it for $22.50 per bag.

 

[cowsense]

Denny.........is that a delivered price??Phone for directions.

:wink: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[alabama]

Rite-now went to $32 a bag. I am looking for something else.
Can anyone get 35S for me in my area?

 

[Kato]

It's $33.00 here. :roll: :roll: That's not going to stop us from using it though.

We're just glad that our soil tests came back saying we don't need phosphorus on the corn land! 8)

 

[burnt]

Well a few weeks ago, someone on here warned us that this was coming so I doubled up my order at $22. That, in spite of the store saying that they knew nothing about an impending increase. So we're good through the breeding season and into fall.

Kato, we put 200 lbs. of 19-19-19 fertilizer on our hay and pasture ground this week and it cost $63/acre. The corn starter was about $55/ac. with the N adding up to about $40/ac.

Diesel is up to $1.18/liter (or $4.54/U.S gal.) from 80 cents last spring.

Corn is going to have to stay at $5.00 plus to make any money and cattle are going to have to jump to cover feed costs even if you raise your own like we do.

The whole situation reminds me of the Chinese "blessing" - "May you live to see interesting times"!

We are definitely living in "interesting times".

 

[Faster horses]

More of the raw ingredients than phosphorus has gone up. Countries like China are raising heck with 'supply and demand.' No one is happy about it, not the companies, not the dealers, and certainly not the customers. Hopefully, it will change. (Well, we can HOPE, anyway.)

I'll see what I can do to get 3V5S to you, alabama. PM me and tell me where you live so I can find the dealer nearest you.

As for getting Vigortone into Canada, that's a tough one. Talk to BMR, he knows how to do it and where to get it, cowsense.

 

[John SD]

Faster horses, what can you tell us about the shelf life of mineral? I bought a ton of 3V2S this spring before the price increase. (Forgot how much it was then and don't know what it is now )

I'm sure the "mineral" component of mineral is probably good, well, forever as long as it's stored in a dry place. What about the vitamin package in the mineral? I can see the vitamin package deteriorating over time regardless of how well the mineral is stored. Maybe put in the deep freeze? :wink:

My own "seat-of-the-pants" philosophy is that mineral stored well under cover away from rodents ought to stay good for a year. Vigortone has the date of mfg printed on the bag but I have never seen a "use by" date.

I guess what I'm saying is I'm comfortable buying mineral needs for the year ahead, but not much more than that.

 

[Faster horses]

Shelf life of Vigortone is virtually forever. Their Quality Control is above reproach.

We had some mineral that was 3 years old and the state tested it.
It tested better than the tag even indicated.

As long as it isn't exposed to the elements (sunshine, heat, etc) you really don't need to worry. Keep it inside in a quonset and you really don't have anything to be concerned about. I don't think I would buy ahead more than one year, just in case this scenerio changes for the better.

However, Phos demand from 2002 to 2007 has doubled in the world. Pretty amazing. All these 3rd world countries becoming industrialized is part (MOST) of the problem.

They are already ahead of us in one respect: They can build refineries without enviromentalists putting a stop to it.

 

[alabama]

More of the raw ingredients than phosphorus has gone up. Countries like China are raising heck with 'supply and demand.' No one is happy about it, not the companies, not the dealers, and certainly not the customers. Hopefully, it will change. (Well, we can HOPE, anyway.)

I'll see what I can do to get 3V5S to you, alabama. PM me and tell me where you live so I can find the dealer nearest you.

As for getting Vigortone into Canada, that's a tough one. Talk to BMR, he knows how to do it and where to get it, cowsense.

FH: down south I think we use either 32S or 35S. I don't think 3V5S is recomended for my area.

 

[Frank in West Dakota]

Some people on here are shopping around and looking for cheaper mineral, and that's ok, but if your on a program, (doesn't matter what brand) and that program is working for ya, keep on it. You could end up with a wreck if ya start changin'.
Just thinkin' out loud.

 

[John SD]

Good point Frank. I agree, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

That said, I think all of us in this business need to keep our eyes open for ways to get the "best bang for the buck" as far as cost/benefit of any/all inputs go. That's easier said than done.

 

[RobertMac]

Some people on here are shopping around and looking for cheaper mineral, and that's ok, but if your on a program, (doesn't matter what brand) and that program is working for ya, keep on it. You could end up with a wreck if ya start changin'.
Just thinkin' out loud.

When I started reducing and then eliminating minerals, I kept looking for the "train wreck"...never happened. Culled a few opens each year, but now fertility has stabilized and getting better. It's now paying bigger benefits. My personal opinion(without any 'sound science' to back it) is that cows on green growing forage shouldn't need additional minerals (unless soil and forage test show a specific problem).

 

[Denny]

Some people on here are shopping around and looking for cheaper mineral, and that's ok, but if your on a program, (doesn't matter what brand) and that program is working for ya, keep on it. You could end up with a wreck if ya start changin'.
Just thinkin' out loud.

When I started reducing and then eliminating minerals, I kept looking for the "train wreck"...never happened. Culled a few opens each year, but now fertility has stabilized and getting better. It's now paying bigger benefits. My personal opinion(without any 'sound science' to back it) is that cows on green growing forage shouldn't need additional minerals (unless soil and forage test show a specific problem).

Do you feed them salt??

 

[RobertMac]

Some people on here are shopping around and looking for cheaper mineral, and that's ok, but if your on a program, (doesn't matter what brand) and that program is working for ya, keep on it. You could end up with a wreck if ya start changin'.
Just thinkin' out loud.

When I started reducing and then eliminating minerals, I kept looking for the "train wreck"...never happened. Culled a few opens each year, but now fertility has stabilized and getting better. It's now paying bigger benefits. My personal opinion(without any 'sound science' to back it) is that cows on green growing forage shouldn't need additional minerals (unless soil and forage test show a specific problem).

Do you feed them salt??

No.

 

[Faster horses]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

It has been researched and documented by university studies that here in the north, our soil (and grass that grows on it) is deficient in copper and zinc.

We just branded our cattle yesterday (I will download pictures) and those folks helping were all our mineral customers. The concensus was how much less doctoring they have to do since being on the mineral--like a discussion I heard about small bottles of Nuflor were outdated because antibiotics were hardly needed) and excess of 90% of their cows were bred in the first heat cycle. Plus the extra pounds the calves weighed that were on the mineral program--they decided there was too many pluses at this point to not feed mineral. Of course, price dictates a lot of decisions, so we'll see how high the price goes and what is decided at that time.

I think staying on your mineral program is good advice. Of course, it is a management decision.

 

[Frank in West Dakota]

Some people on here are shopping around and looking for cheaper mineral, and that's ok, but if your on a program, (doesn't matter what brand) and that program is working for ya, keep on it. You could end up with a wreck if ya start changin'.
Just thinkin' out loud.

When I started reducing and then eliminating minerals, I kept looking for the "train wreck"...never happened. Culled a few opens each year, but now fertility has stabilized and getting better. It's now paying bigger benefits. My personal opinion(without any 'sound science' to back it) is that cows on green growing forage shouldn't need additional minerals (unless soil and forage test show a specific problem).

RobertMac,
How long did you reduce your mineral, before you eliminated it? I think that if you can do that, more power to ya. But, different regions of the U.S. need different rations. After getting on my program a few years ago, I noticed a lot less problems, less opens with shorter breeding dates, almost no sickness at weaning with no weaning shots, fewer problems associated with calving, etc.
I would never eliminate the mineral I'm using, but I do think that 3-4 oz/day is way overdoing it, as recommended by my nutritionist. My cattle (cows & heifers) went through on average about 20 lbs each of mineral last year, and about 12-14 lbs of salt. Don't know if that's the right amount, but it's workin' for me.