Gee, I can never get the 'box' around a quote from a pervious post. Fustrating.
Anyway, Grassfarmer you said:
it's another crutch being sold to us by input manufacturers
Not so.
It's researchers at universities that have done a lot of field trials, etc. that tell us how important mineral is to your cowherd. There are a lot of things you haven't addressed. Conception rate, cow longevity, herd health for instance.
And there are exceptions. In my area there is one place that needs a custom mix mineral. You could be the exception. Our cattle won't eat salt, so perhaps we are the exception in another direction. In fact, we have a problem getting them to eat enough mineral in the summertime. But, we also had great health problems that we no longer have, now that we are on a good year-round mineral PROGRAM.
Here's a little something to ruminate about:
South Dakota Ranchers have battled a high selenium count in their soil for as long as they can remember. This high selenium count is due to a shale formation that lies beneath the soil and has caused copper deficiencies in their livestock, directly affecting their cattle's health and reproduction, and increasing their livestock's mortality rates.
Bob Heidgerken and Kenny McFarland, neighbors who run cattle operations near Rapid City, South Dakota, have discovered that using Vigortone minerals has raised the copper levels in their livestock and improved their livestock's health significantly.
Heidgerken's pastures are composed of many dry lake beds that are extremely high in selenium. "Other people who rented these pastures before I did couldn't raise cattle worth anything, but I think my calves are as good as anyone else's now," commented Heidgerken. "I tried injecting copper for several years, and then I started testing the copper count through liver biopsies in 2001. The initial copper levels were so low that the technician questioned if the biopsies were from cattle that were still alive," said Heidgerken. "They were still alive, but in such bad shape that I could back up a trailer with no panels and just push them right in."
Heidgerken was on the co-op board at that time, and the manager of the co-op made him a custom mix with copper sulfate. Although it wasn't a perfect program, it was the best program he had found to date. His calves gained almost 100 pounds in weaning weight and their color started looking better. "Using the new custom mix was an improvement, but my cows were still gray and I could tell that they were still having copper deficiencies," said Heidgerken.
Still searching for the best program, he talked with his neighbor Kenny McFarland. At that time, McFarland was feeding a Vigortone product designed to meet the area's needs. McFarland started with Vigortone as an FFA project in high school 20 plus years ago. Both men thought their own program was better, but if they could buy together, they would get a better deal on freight. They needed to determine which program was better.
Vigortone Area Sales Manager Brett Heiting suggested a liver biopsy. Kenny and Bob each tested three of their cows for copper levels in the liver. An average of 130 ppm copper on Vigortone versus the 6 ppm for Heidgerken's cows convinced Heidgerken to try Vigortone. After using Vigortone for nine months, he had two liver biopsies. "The copper count came back with an average in the mid 40's, which was a great improvement from the average count of six we had before we started using Vigortone products," said Heidgerken. "After nine months, the copper increased by about eight times as much."
When Heidgerken's neighbors started hearing these results, many of them decided to follow his lead. "We now have two semi loads of Vigortone mineral shipped to this area, one in the spring and one in the fall," explained Heidgerken.
"One of my neighbors is totally hooked on this stuff. He was really impressed when his cattle gained 130 to 140 pounds of weaning weight."
Kenny McFarland develops Angus heifers and sells four-year-old cows after calving the heifers twice. He consistently averages a 96-97% breedback on his heifers. "That is with a tight 45- to 50-day breeding cycle," commented McFarland. "With a good mineral program you have good health, and that is what it takes."
Heidgerken had been seeing coccidiosis in several replacement Herefords. "After I started using Vigortone with Bovatec, my cattle bred better and it cleared the coccidiosis up," said Heidgerken.
Heidgerken's calves are much healthier, too. "I don't have the sickness in the fall. In fact, I have gotten away from pinkeye, and I don't get foot rot as bad as I used to. I attribute all of that to a decent mineral program," said Heidgerken. "I got my calving dates cut back a month or more, maybe even six weeks, so I have 30 days more growth on my calves." Heidgerken's cows all bred in 42 days. All but 10 or 12 of them calved in 20 days, and cleaning problems were nonexistent.
Heidgerken uses mostly well water and feeds mineral in DuraBull feeders and a few open containers. "The wearability of Vigortone in the open containers is great. They eat the mineral good, and there is never any left in the feeders," said Heidgerken. "The longer we put mineral out, the more even their consumption is. With the other minerals we used, we would see big swings in consumption.
"We have had several other mineral companies running around the country here, trying to convert us to other minerals, and I am really impressed with our customers around here. They say, 'No, we aren't switching from Vigortone!' They have already found something that works for them."
Recently, Brett met with Kenny and Bob and it was decided to adjust their formulation to include Vigortone's new 3V concept.
We congratulate both Kenny McFarland and Bob Heidgerken on their continuing, as well as evolving, success with Vigortone. South Dakota Ranchers Search For Superior Mineral – Find Vigortone reprinted from Bunk & Bull