Last updated on October 10th, 2023 at 01:13 pm
…but what can go wrong when using lick tubs?
That is a very genuine and fair concern: lick tub problems. Over the past few years, we have had multiple ranchers express their concern to us: what can go wrong with using tubs? Are they worth it? Some of you have even tried using tubs, and decided they were not worth the investment. Whether it was a bad experience, or you just didn’t feel like they were helping, we are sympathetic with you. There really is no use using something that harms your profitability.
That is why we’re here today. To simply explain that yes, things can turn south when you use lick tubs. But there are also solutions.
One common lick tub problem is overconsumption. There are many different reasons as to why overconsumption happens, but nonetheless, the cost to feed becomes exorbitant. And paying a high price for something that truly doesn’t seem to be positively impacting your operation? Yeah, that’s frustrating.
How To Manage Lick Tub Overconsumption
Let’s say a cow is supposed to eat a 1/2 pound to 1 1/2 pounds on Brand X’s lick tub. If, for some reason, that cow over-consumes, suddenly your cost per head per say soars through the roof. The same thing can happen on Riomax®; rare, but not impossible. A herd of cows over-consumes, and your cost per head per day doesn't look like it should.
Fortunately, for you as a rancher, we have introduced COSTGUARD®. This provides a consumption guarantee on every single tub that leaves our sight. It is to ensure that the risk is off of the rancher’s shoulders, so that lick tub problems caused by overconsumption are brought to a minimum.
The point here is this: lick tubs can cause problems. Cows can over-consume. Sometimes, cows eat tubs like they're candy bars! Riomax® is a more dense, harder, lower consumption lick tub by design, but as we said earlier, it can still happen, albeit rare.
That is why we, as a company, are trying to eliminate that risk and stand behind our consumption levels. For example, if you had consumption on a particular group that was over our high side (which is a 1/3 of a pound), and you were using it according to the user’s guide, you would be completely covered by the COSTGUARD® consumption guarantee.
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We're not saying that Riomax® is the only company to offer a consumption guarantee.
One company in the industry puts it right on their tag: the consumption levels that are guaranteed for a thousand pounds of body weight. That means if a cow is 1,400 pounds, you would take that recommended consumption level and multiply it by 1.4.
Statistics aside, the over-arching discussion point is to know what can go wrong, and that there can be hidden costs, in any given brand of lick tub. Before making the decision to use lick tubs, it is important to review a few things, because the last thing you need is to create a pitfall for yourself.
Here are a few questions you may want to ask yourself before making the final decision:
- What is my cost per head per day currently?
- Will the company stand behind their consumption claims? (Here at Riomax®, we say the consumption will be between 1/8 and 1/3 of a pound.)
- Is the consumption rate given a guarantee, or just a recommendation on the tag?
At the end of the day, all we are trying to do is reduce lick tub problems, like overconsumption, and help educate ranchers. That way, you can make a decision and be confident in it. We hate risk as much as you do, so if we can help you to save your money, eliminate any chance of downfall, and reduce your input costs, we will.