Last updated on April 27th, 2026 at 04:19 pm
How Adam Beat Flies, Drought & Ever-Rising Feed Costs On His Ranch
We all know as ranchers that our calves have gotta be putting pounds on. From the time they're born, you know, up until whether you back round or even if you finish them, I mean, if they're standing in the corners fighting flies and stomping, they're not putting pounds on. And that's what opened my eyes about it, that this product really really does have some benefit to the rancher. I'm Adam Peter from Hagler, Nebraska. We went through a pretty rough drought the last couple years, and I was looking for a resource of some kind to maybe help with, feed cost throughout the wintertime, stretch our grass out a little bit. It's kinda how I came up with this company. I just found it kind of on the Internet through some advertisements and magazines and started looking into it. We started Riomax, April. So about thirty days before we went to grass this year and started seeing results within, if I'd say, safely sixty days. What I noticed the most probably was the manure. It ended up starting raining a bunch in May and June, and our cows weren't real washy on the sandhill grass. They were a little more compact manure, and you could see that the mineral was maybe breaking down better without being scientific about it because I'm not. I basically just took my boot and kinda slicked it around a little bit out in the pasture, and I was amazed at what I was really seeing. We were using the Flyby three sixty. And when we were going to the pasture later, you know, July time as we were headed up there, a lot of the neighbors cows were packed in the corners of the of the pastures fighting flies, and ours seemed really content, kinda spread out through the bottoms, laying there, showing their cud. And that's what opened my eyes about it, that this product really really does have some benefit to the rancher. At the end of the day, no matter what you're selling in agriculture, it's all pounds. Whether it's corn, wheat, cane, or beef, you get paid on pounds no matter how you look at it. To me, that was exciting cause I knew my cows were content for one and not miserable fighting flies as bad as maybe the others. And I gotta sell pounds. I gotta get the most pounds out of what I've got cause we ain't got a lot of cows. Our costs are more or at least as much as everybody's and and so that's that was what excited me. I knew we were getting pounds when they weren't fighting flies. You know, what scares most people away, including me personally when I started, was the price of it. But as it's turning out and unfolding, it really does look to me like it costs less than the the, I guess, competitor's product that aren't necessarily bad products, but at the end of the day, this tub costs less really than than what other competitors are are saying they can do. There'll never be a cure all because the weather's different all every year, but it it's nice to see that that it works. You're buying a product that actually does what they say it does. I'm excited to see what it does from here.
Adam Peter - Haigler, NE
Fast Facts
- Improved manure texture - more broken down
- Less fly pressure allowed cows to be content & spread out
- Increased weight gain due to less fly stress
- Stretched pastures during a drought year
After going through a tough drought, Adam was looking for ways to reduce feed costs and stretch his grass. He found Riomax through advertisements and decided to try it out. Within about 60 days, he noticed noticeable improvements, particularly in his cows' manure.
Adam observed that his cows' manure was more compact and less "washy" compared to the manure from his neighbors' cows, which were fighting flies and clustered in the corners of the pasture. In contrast, his cows appeared content, spread out, and chewing cud. This difference in manure quality led him to believe that the product was improving digestion and nutrient absorption in his cattle.
Overall, Adam was impressed with how Riomax benefited his cattle, especially by reducing fly irritation, allowing them to gain weight, and improving the quality of manure. Despite initial concerns about the cost, he found that the product was ultimately more affordable than competing products. Adam is excited to see how it continues to perform in the future.
Open cows, pounds you don't wean, sickness, or forage that goes out the back end don't make you money, do they?
A healthy herd drives profits higher. And a profitable ranch can withstand volatile markets and unpredictable weather. Gain control of your future.
15-30% forage & hay savings with Riomax
Riomax® is revolutionizing the way ranchers deal with high input costs. With better digestion, your herd can get all the nutrients they need from less grass. This leaves you with more days on grass (you start feeding later in the fall), less stress, and a more padded pocketbook.
Seen a lot of savings on our on our pastures. Generally, figure about five and a half to six acres of pair around through here. We've been even last year through the drought of that we had of twenty twenty, we did four and a half acres of pair on on ours, still had adequate grass left. Cattle came off in good condition. They weren't weren't malnutritioned, weren't low body scores. Been running pretty consistent, six body score better on everything. We're paying right around fifty dollar an acre cash rent up here is kinda kind of a common thing. You can knock out an acre here off of every cow that that saves a lot of money. Mean, fifty fifty bucks and you don't need four hundred another four hundred acres. It's another twenty thousand. So all of a sudden you got forty forty five thousand dollars in your pocket and you still have all the extra added benefits through the mineral, the health benefits of it. And it really saved on the last year too with the drought. We didn't think we'd get through. We put the same amount of number in the pastures and it didn't rain. We pulled it out and we still had old grass in the pasture. I didn't know the tub saved that whole deal. We had stretched it a lot because there was a lot of people selling cows and we didn't sell anything and we didn't pull them out early. And this year, most of the pastures around here are pretty much nothing. And we drove through everything. We still got, you know, shoots of grass and tufts of grass all over the place. Not a lot, but it we kept them. It made a huge difference. As far as paying for itself, you know, you got to feed and you start saving instead of a lot of guys are up to forty five, fifty five pounds. It was figured somewhere in there a big cow and even when they had the calf on them sixty pounds. So if you're feeding thirty pounds, yeah, it's gonna easily pay for itself without you see a bit. I mean, we, you can see it on the cow calf pairs too, bigger calves. We calve in May, June, and we're weaving seven hundred and some pound calves off of Dallas. So it makes, yeah, we can see the difference really easy. You just go through each step and see We're running more cows than we used to run on the same acres. That is a big deal. Because I used to on on my pastures, they're not big pastures, but on my pastures, I used to run twenty five head and they would have it grazed down to nothing in five months easy. Now I can run thirty, thirty five on the same pastures, and they can stay there another month longer easy on any given year. And this year, they got to stay two months longer, and there's still grass left over. Well, yeah, it's high priced, but it's like if if you can afford or not. But I think you can afford it because you cannot afford not to feed it because you can get your cattle to market faster. They're healthier. You could run more cattle on your land or you can stay there longer before you have to move on to an another patch. The cows are way healthier. They're way more content. They're happy. They're happy cows.
RANCHING AIN'T EASY.
FOR ALL THE WORK THAT YOU DO, YOU DESERVE
MORE IN RETURN.
15 - 30% FORAGE SAVINGS
3 - 10% INCREASE IN CONCEPTION RATES
10 - 40 LBS. INCREASE IN WEANING WEIGHTS
Check out our #1 bestselling tub!
- Complete Digestion Package
- 100% Protected Key Trace Mineral Pack
- 45¢ USD per Head per Day (before quantity discounts)
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- All Natural
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"Those tubs paid for themselves...in that first winter alone. It would' have costed me well over $100,000 to purchase that much feed."
John McEvoy
Prince George, BC
“Went from 40 acres/cow in this drought to 30 acres/cow – that’s $70/cow/year!“
Raymond Rivale
Des Moines, NM
“Compared to average of 450-500 lb in this country, we wean 600-650 lb calves.“
Carter Williams
Willcox, AZ
“I wouldn’t be using it if it didn’t pay for itself. I’m a cheapskate by nature.“
Kim Siebert
Henderson, NE
“The proof is in the pudding – conception rates, feed utilization.“
Tom Schnabel
Eureka, SD
“Main thing is stretching poor quality feeds – cattle are always content.“
Dustin Heitkamp
Wyndmere, ND
“We’ve been feeding Riomax® for 4 years now – we’ll continue – it pays for itself.“
Tom Perkins
McIntosh, NM
“The cost gets offset with better conception rates, less hay costs.“
Alan Ista
Hulett, WY
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Help us understand the needs of your ranch & the challenges you face. Then we’ll crunch the numbers to see if Riomax is a fit for your ranch.
FIND THE RIGHT NUTRITION PROGRAM
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ENJOY ONGOING SUPPORT
Our herd health guides and network of dealers are here to ensure Riomax® is paying for itself.
Reach out & let’s talk about your ranch
Help us understand the needs of your ranch & the challenges you face. Then we’ll crunch the numbers to see if Riomax is a fit for your ranch.
FIND THE RIGHT NUTRITION PROGRAM
Get a program that fits your needs and pays for itself. Shipped direct or through our dealer network.
ENJOY ONGOING SUPPORT
Our herd health guides and network of dealers are here to ensure Riomax® is paying for itself.
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