This Rancher Saved $25,000 From One Change

We dropped off a full tub out here in this desert, and then I had to go pick that whole thing back up. It was too heavy for me. So We actually have a low mineral through the soil here that the cows really struggle to get out of feed. We've tried tubs, some cows always overconsumed on it. And I have the highest copper rate. They've steadily actually gone down, and then we got introduced to Riomax, and that has the high copper rate that we're looking for. So our heifer program has always struggled. So we started with them a year ago, and our initial breed rates were sixty to seventy percent. And after we put the Riomax to them, they've jumped to eighty five percent. That is wonderful. It's always a lot better knowing that you can keep them and not have to sell them open ones on the truck. On today's market, that's twenty five thousand. Easy. Our first calf heifer calves have always been, you know, at least seventy five pounds lighter than the main cow herd. And that actually changed too last fall. They actually caught to the main cow herd and weaned at the same rate, about five hundred pounds. Just to have a uniform bunch, you know, where they can all go on the same truck together really helps where they're not being divided back and you don't have all those weigh backs at the end of the day. It's worth, you know, a hundred dollars a head easy. It's definitely made us try it out with all of our cows now. Initially, there wasn't much change through the cow herd when we first put it to them. They did tend to actually consume a little more, but that was also through the calving season. But they did really well on it. They come into the branding pen a lot fleshier and healthier looking. The biggest change we saw was actually with our bulls. They come out of winter looking really haired up, not shiny at all. And within the first week, they slicked off and looked really, really good. With being such a really dry year, feed is a big concern, but that seems to be helping a little bit. And then we kept the tubs with them going to the mountain allotment. And up there, they're consuming about the same rate as they were in the desert, but it sure does seem to help keep them in good condition up there as well. We did order a little bit smaller tub for the summer. We dropped off a full tub out here in this desert, then I had to go pick that whole thing back up. It was too heavy for me. So We seem to have less pneumonia in our calves this year as well-being on this tub, and that's really helped out a lot. With these tubs, the consumption rates is a lot closer to what's actually specified they should be using. I think the biggest part of it is is that they continually actually consume that Riomax. And normally through the summer months, they'll quit all mineral programs that we try.