Last updated on October 24th, 2023 at 05:03 pm
The birds are chirping. There's a warm breeze moving in. It's not even lunch time yet, and it's already quite hot out today. Summer has arrived!
The grass is green and the cattle are out grazing. Do I really need to feed mineral throughout the summer? Well let’s ask yourself, “What are you trying to get out of it?” Then let’s ask yourself, “Will that mineral do that for me?”
Some of these key measurables can really justify the costs of feeding a summer mineral.
Calf Health
Healthy calves eat more, gain better and give you more money at the end of the year or when you sell them. You can also save money by decreasing the number of expensive treatments and decreasing the cases of pink eye and foot rot.
Weight Gain
Even though you may not be selling them until fall or even next spring, the time to start putting weight on is now. We want to fully optimize every opportunity this summer to do so. This ties into the mama cow and how she is working. If she is fully optimizing her potential, she is going to have higher butter fat in her milk for the baby calf. The end result is that calf is going to grow better.
Stretch Your Pastures
If you are able to stretch your pasture further, the cattle are better able to utilize the land base or the grass, whether it is nice lush grass or dry grass. Whether you’ve had too much rainfall or not enough, let’s help utilize everything that you do have.
Am I using the right mineral to get the results I am looking for?
A cheaper mineral containing a lot of sulfates and oxides will do a very small portion of what you want but probably won’t get the entire job done for you. It may negatively impact the good microbes in both the rumen and in the soil. Saving you a little bit of money upfront but possibly causing more problems down the road.
Select a protected mineral program like Riomax®, which has all the goodies to positively impact your desired results. It protects the good microbes in the rumen and in the soil.
Riomax® can help you with all of these things:
- Keeps them healthy through the summer
- Improve weaning weights
- Improve overall weight gain on your calves during their lifetime
- Stretch your pastures further
We are here to help the ranchers stay profitable, successful and sustainable this year and for years to come.