Mineral tubs

[angus9259]

There was a good program on American Rancher tonight. It was about 6666's mineral program. One was a mineral mix for cows, CONCEP- something,. Made by Biozyme. They saw an average of 42 lbs weaning weight at 210 days vs what they were getting before they started using these minerals. Their calves gained at average of ,2lbs per day growth when using those minerals. They said at $2.75 a lb, the 42 lb heavier steer brought an extra $1.25... 2 and 1/2 times what the cost of the minerals to get him there cost: about $46. That is $70 a head more, Or, another way to look at it is.....if you don't feed it you are losing $70 per head.

How many days a decade will you get $2.75/lb?

That said, it could be a wash even on an average year if the numbers are real. Nice to finally see some actual numbers (42 lbs weaning). Was the study scientific? 42 lbs could also just come from the type of year / feed / etc....

 

[Brute 23]

How many days a decade will you get $2.75/lb?

That said, it could be a wash even on an average year if the numbers are real. Nice to finally see some actual numbers (42 lbs weaning). Was the study scientific? 42 lbs could also just come from the type of year / feed / etc....

Being who the study came from it is likely they put the work in to check. Yes, there could be multiple variables so we will see what they come out with long term.

I know a guy who does cattle nutrition consulting and different things and he says when he walks out to do an evaluation if he sees a poor mineral & salt program, its money in the bank. He knows by getting them on a good program he will put enough weight on their calves to justify himself.

 

[Warren Allison]

How many days a decade will you get $2.75/lb?

That said, it could be a wash even on an average year if the numbers are real. Nice to finally see some actual numbers (42 lbs weaning). Was the study scientific? 42 lbs could also just come from the type of year / feed / etc....

This was a re-run, but I didn't catch if it was first aired earlier this year, or in a previous year. But the way they all talked, I think this is a program they have been running for a while now. And yeah, this is the 6666 ranch, so I am sure it is as scientific as it gets.

 

[StrojanHerefords]

If you are getting 1/10 of a percent you are going in the right direction and doing fine. I was just curious if you had been regularly testing and had noticed an improvement in organic matter since you started. These things do take time but nonetheless need to be addressed if soil health is a priority.

I haven't done any retesting yet. I still have some ground to fertilize with the testing I did before and before I do any more testing I want to figure out a better way to measure the changes that are being made. I can see that the ground is very inconsistent and so for any fertility program to be successful, there needs to be away to target the applications where they are needed.
In general what you say is true about organic matter being good. The problem I am seeing is that when there isn't good drainage then the soil can't breathe and no useful feed grows. We are on top of a fragipan layer that once busted will improve the water holding capacity and the drainage of the soil.