Cattle nutrition turning to organic minerals to keep up with the times

By Dr. Tyler Bramble, Ph.D., P.A.S., Alltech

Since the 1950s, cattle producers have been adding trace minerals to their rations to combat environmental conditions, their effect on nutrition and other normally occurring nutritional gaps.

Fifty years later, our mineral supplementation programs have been reevaluated. The livestock of the 1950s are not the same cattle we raise today. Cattle are selected for improved performance and there has been an influx of a variety of breeds into commercial cattle operations, thus resulting in larger cattle with different nutritional demands. Previously revolutionary statements regarding nutritional needs may not suit today's genetically advanced cow. Our understanding of mineral needs has also gone far beyond the macroelements. In recent years, a greater emphasis has been placed on the livestock trace mineral requirements. Changes in livestock and their nutritional requirements have shown us that although trace minerals may be only a tiny part of a bag of cattle mineral, that tiny part can have a significant impact on cattle profitability and performance.

MFA Incorporated has been keeping up with the times and has invested in improved Gold Star Minerals. Not only do MFA Gold Star Minerals offer Rain-Off weather protection and a larger particle size to reduce dust and waste, they also offer chelated zinc, copper, and manganese as Bioplex® organic trace minerals – key nutrients in nature’s form for disease defense, healthy immune response and optimum reproductive performance.

Until the 1990s, most trace mineral supplementation in beef cattle diets came in the form of inorganic minerals (salts) and were aimed in the prevention of deficiency in our herds. Today producers are looking to new forms of trace minerals to optimize health and meet the genetic potential of their livestock while providing a positive impact on our food animal product quality and ultimately on payback.

In seeking the most efficient, effective and economical nutritional technologies, leading feed and mineral manufacturers have turned to organic minerals or mineral sources bound in some way to an organic ligand. Mineral proteinates, such as Bioplex® Minerals from Alltech®, are trace minerals chelated to a range of amino acids and small peptides that improve absorption and retention in the body. These chelated minerals are designed to more closely resemble the mineral bonds found in plants and feed grains and are not excreted at the rate of cheap trace mineral salts. This added benefit of chelation secures the delivery of the added benefits of feeding trace minerals in the first place.

While organic minerals cost more than inorganic, the financial return often warrants the investment. Studies repeatedly show organic minerals to be more effective than mineral salts in increasing reproductive efficiency of breeding females under nutritional stress. Producers can ensure optimum mineral status in their herds and decrease their herds’ susceptibility to reproductive problems such as early embryonic death; weak, ill-thrift calves; disease incidence; long calving intervals; silent heats and poor conception rates.

Trace elements are also involved in maintaining herd health and disease susceptibility through pre-conditioning and receiving programs. Stressed or sick animals do not eat. When the immune function is challenged to fight infection, the needed copper, manganese and zinc must come from tissue reserves. If the reserves are low, disease defense is poor. When herd disease defense is poor, a cattle producer’s profits suffer.

The old way of thinking about mineral supplementation is to feed the minimum requirement that’s based on research more than fifty years old with old cattle genetics. Using this outdated approach leads cattle producers to assume that tested forages containing borderline trace mineral levels will yield them optimal results. The truth is that borderline nutrition yields borderline results and, in today’s markets, producers cannot afford borderline. Successful producers understand the concept of securing their cattle and their profits. Most obviously, securing your herd starts with good fencing. However, the more we understand about feeding for optimal genetic performance, the more advanced nutrition technology resembles that strong fence in securing the future of a herd.

Invention and innovation have changed the way we live, work and produce livestock today. To keep up with modern cattle production, we cannot sustain the same mineral supplementation we implemented in the 20th century. We must look to new forms of organic trace minerals to optimize cattle health and reproduction.

So stop by your local MFA Agri Service and tell them you want "mineral nutrition done right."

Back to Top