BOOOOOOOOOOOOO on the lick tubs.
Good mineral program will cost you about 5 cents a day and not much more than that with IGR added. We figured the cost for yearlings to add IGR and it was cheaper than fly tags.
Your feed man got next to you. Why would you need to add protein in the summer? Protien costs way too much money and the mineral gets in pockets in the tubs and is not an efficient way to get mineral into your cattle.
Is your feed man a feed salesman or a feed rep? I have a story about that, but I cannot lay my hands on it. Is he working for you or for himself? Our company sells molasses tubs and we wouldn't think of selling them during the spring/summer/green grass/ to our customers. Do you realize extra protein is a detriment to getting cattle bred? Here is a copy of an article from David Price, PhD.
"The column on pasture breeding problems generated more mail than any other. All the letters alluded to the same scenario discussed in the column
oor conception rates for cows or heifers run on lush high-protein forage. The only real difference was that some were high protein grasses such as rye, oats or wheat, whereas others were legumes such as clover or alfalfa.
I became aware of the problem when called in on a breeding failure on wheat pasture. The blame had been placed on estrogenic activity. I couldn't buy the diagnosis, but had no explanation.
One day, I found a research report on dairy cows fed high protein lactation rations. The researchers reported that excess protein in the rations changed the pH of uterine fluid. Possibly as a result, cows fed these high protein rations had exceedlingly poor pregrancy rates.
I theorized that the high protein content of these pastures, not estrogenic activity, was causing the breeding problems. I postulated the theory based on Australian research showing the estrogenic effect of lush alfalfa not to be great enough to interfere with cycling in cows.
The letters I've received have firmly convinced me the problem is PROTEIN, not estrogen. Of all the letters that discussed breeding problems in detail, nearly all mentioned the cows 'settling', then later coming into heat. If the problem were estrogens, the cows wouldn't settle. They would appear to be continually in heat.
This was seen in the dairy cow research. The cows would conceive, but the fertilized ova would not implant in the uterus. (It's not known if the pH change kills the embryo outright or won't let it adhere to the uterine wall.)
I must stress that there's nothing inherently wrong with lush, high-protein pastures. We just have to remove cows or heifers about two weeks before breeding and put them on more moderate protein levels. This approach has worked. Clients experiencing breeding problems have since reported 90% plus breed-ups." (end of Dr. Price's article.)
longjohn, I sincerely hope you will give this some thought. All you are doing with the lick tubs is using it as a medium to get the IGR into the cows and it is a mighty expensive way to do so. Also, you could be doing more harm than good adding PROTEIN to their diet at that time of year.
I looked to see where you are located and it isn't listed. In our country here in SE Montana, we have run grass samples and in May and June our native grass runs 18% protein. Crested wheat is even higher. Adding protein is totally unnecessary and very expensive.
Just get a good mineral with IGR and save your money. You will also get, in a good mineral, yeast culture which is way more important that protein at that time of year. Molasses upsets the ph in the rumen as well, if too much is consumed. You could have an expensive problem on your hands. If the mineral you consider doesn't contain yeast culture, DO NOT BUY IT.
You asked, and I hope this helps.
Educating ranchers against buying feedstuff they don't need is my passion. I hate it when I think they have been sold a bill of goods. Mostly we need to feed what we can raise and leave the rest of it alone. Saves alot of money and problems. As an industry we have been oversold protein for years! Sad, but very true!