Some of the benefits of good mineral supplementation are easier to quantify, such as the value of reducing the incidence of milk fever (hypocalcaemia) or Magnesium staggers (hypomagnesaemia).
The total cost of a case of milk fever is estimated to be about $500 when lost milk production, increased risk of other metabolic and infectious diseases, and loss from sub clinical cases are included.
The cost of an incidence of clinical Magnesium staggers can often be the value of a cow (and usually one of the higher-producing cows in the herd). Cows don’t usually die from Sodium deficiency but where Sodium content of the diet is very low, milk responses to Salt supplementation of 12-15% have been seen in trials.
Even when only sub-clinical deficiencies are present, there are financial benefits of mineral supplementation but these are harder to quantify. Sub clinical deficiencies can result in lost milk production and lower fertility. Calcium, Magnesium and Sodium can all help cows to achieve better feed efficiency – more milk per kg drymatter (DM) of feed. For a 400-cow herd averaging 400kg MS/cow with an average feed cost of 25 cents/kg DM, a small improvement in feed efficiency from 85g to 90g MS/kg DM is worth $26,000. At a time when feed is in short supply, if the improved feed efficiency allows cows to be milked for longer, the benefit could be more than twice that much.
Minerals are also important for skeletal bone growth. This applies not just to growing and in-calf heifers, but also to heifers in their first lactation who are not yet fully grown. Heifers with poor skeletal growth have less ability to compete for feed with older cows and a lower capacity for the increased feed intake needed after calving. If heifers cost $1500 to rear, this will never be fully recouped if they only last for one lactation.
Greater use of supplements which are low in Calcium and Sodium, such as maize silage and palm kernel, has increased the need for a well-balanced mineral supplement to maintain performance.
Feeding MineralBoost Classic at 200g for 300 days costs about $32/cow. Only a small improvement of about 2% in milk production or 2.5% in feed efficiency will cover this cost.
MineralBoost, the best mineral delivery for your cattle
MineralBoost ensures consistent and accurate dosing of critical minerals through perfectly balanced rumen dispersible granules that are blended with animal feed. There is no easier, safer and more effective way to make sure your cows get exactly the minerals they need every day.
This is how the MineralBoost granule achieves the best mineral delivery for cattle.
We source the best minerals and feed additives available from the best suppliers. Calcium and Salt from New Zealand, Magnesium from Australia and trace minerals feed additives from highly reputable companies.
All the input materials are ultra-fine particles to ensure the maximum bio-availability.
The granules are manufactured here in New Zealand to a quality standard certified by MPI and the patented technology ensures they disperse quickly within the cattle’s rumen.
Our granules ensure that blending of the minerals with feed can be achieved accurately weather that is done on farm or by the farmers feed company.
Once in feed, granules are less likely to segregate out, they are more palatable to the cattle and visible to the farmer within that feed.
For the farmer that means
Accurate and complete mineral supplementation for cattle with the least effort, time and expense
Fewer problems, more money and more sleep.
How farmers can apply this new technology
If supplementary feed is being used MineralBoost can be added. The feed can be bought from a feed company or grown onfarm. Farmers can get their feed company to add MineralBoost at their depot to be delivered onfarm. The farmer can have bags of MineralBoost delivered to the farm and can blend it into feed through feed-out wagon or use an inline mineral dispenser within an in-shed feed system.
Say goodbye to pasture-dusting, mineral-drenching and water treatment
Adding 200g of MineralBoost to a cow’s diet per day is in most cases all she needs. If you have a herd of larger highly productive cows you may need a little more. There is a MineralBoost product for every situation: MineralBoost Classic covers all the cows’ Calcium, Magnesium and Salt (macro’s) supplementary requirement, MineralBoost Max contains the macros, trace elements and Rumensin and MineralBoost Zinc contain macros and is a preventative medicine for Facial Eczema, and so on.
