Selecting a proper mineral supplementation strategy can become quite complicated with all the different product offerings and brands available. In selecting the right program for your herd, it is helpful to not only have an understanding of your forage quality but to also think about what goals you want to achieve. Choosing a supplement to merely prevent a deficiency, rather than supplementing for optimized performance, health and profitability, are often two completely different strategies at two completely different price points.
Beef animals require protein, energy, certain vitamins and both macrominerals and microminerals on a regular basis. Even though minerals are needed at much lower levels than protein, for example, they do perform vital functions directly correlated to animal health, growth and reproductive efficiency. The problem is that these minerals are often present in variable and insufficient amounts within cultivated forages. Therefore, there is a need to supplement these essential nutrients.
So, how can we compare, evaluate and select the appropriate program to support our herds’ nutritional needs and match our goals?
The first step will be to take a good look at the tag or tags of the products you are interested in. Product tags can be a wealth of information, as they can help you to understand not only the composition of the product but the quality of ingredients to a certain extent as well. The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) regulates the information that has to be included, and the minimum requirements for a cattle supplement tag include:
- Product and brand name
- Purpose statement – This identifies the species and class of animal the product was created for.
- Guaranteed analysis – This gives you an idea of which minerals might be included and at what rate. It is very important to know that the more guarantees listed on the tag, the more useful the information is to help you compare nutritional levels.
- List of ingredients – All ingredients included in the formulation are required to be listed, but may not be included in the guaranteed analysis. When it comes to trace minerals, for example, this can be one of the biggest challenges when multiple sources of the same nutrient are used, such as zinc sulfate and zinc proteinate. So, we know they use some organic zinc, but there is no way to know what proportion of the zinc is actually in the organic form. When we talk about tag dressing, this is where it can happen. This is also where additives, such as enzymes or yeast cultures, would be listed if they were included in the formulation. AAFCO does require that the ingredient list be arranged in descending order of predominance by weight in the product.
- Directions for use or any limitations/precautions
- Manufacturer and/or distributor information
Let’s focus on the guaranteed analysis section of the tag. This can be confusing since vitamins are listed in international units – per kilogram (kg) or pound (lb) – while macrominerals are listed as a percentage (%), and microminerals or trace minerals are listed as parts per million (ppm).
Vitamins are not only essential nutrients but are also closely linked to mineral metabolism and absorption. Vitamin concentrations are listed as international unit (IU) per pound. For example, if you have a 4-ounce mineral that shows a guaranteed analysis of 200,000 IU per pound of vitamin A, the 4 ounces is 0.25 pound multiplied by 200,000. So, you are supplementing the cow with 50,000 IU of vitamin A. If you look at the requirements, you can see this mineral at 4 ounces will supplement all the vitamin A that either a growing or gestating animal would need. Also, don’t forget that the animal will also receive vitamin A through forages as well.
Macrominerals refer to minerals needed in large amounts and include calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). Requirements vary by age and stage of production. Since macrominerals are listed as a percentage on the mineral tag, how do we know how much the animal is getting? For example, if you see phosphorus listed on the tag as 7% and it is a 4-ounce mineral, we can calculate that 7% of 0.25 pound is 0.0175 pound (or 8 grams). You can easily look up the phosphorus requirement for a gestating cow and see what percentage of her requirement will be met by the recommended level of intake. Keep in mind she will still get some phosphorus from forages and feedstuffs, so with 7% phosphorus in the mineral supplement plus basal levels from forages, you will meet her requirement for phosphorus in this case.
When we talk about trace minerals, these include copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), cobalt (Co), zinc (Zn) and selenium (Se). Even though these are only needed by the animal in very small amounts, they are essential nutrients needed to support health, growth and reproductive function. Since they are required in very small amounts, they are listed in ppm, which can also be expressed as milligrams or kilograms.
Forages and feedstuffs vary greatly in the amount of trace minerals they contain. These differences are not only between forage species but can be regional and seasonal as well. Most forages do not contain sufficient levels of trace minerals, especially copper, zinc and selenium, to fulfill the cow’s requirement and therefore need to be supplemented. However, when it comes to trace minerals, the form or the source of the trace mineral is much more important than the amount, and this has to do with bioavailability.
By form of trace mineral, we typically refer to inorganic versus organic types of trace minerals. Inorganic trace minerals, such as oxides or sulfates, are typically byproducts from other industrial processes, so it is very inexpensive. They have very low bioavailability and therefore the animal cannot absorb and utilize as effectively, which also leads to higher excretion rates and can contribute to environmental concerns.
With organic minerals, we take the metal, such as copper or zinc, and bind that to peptides or amino acids. This makes the mineral more representative of the form the animal would find trace minerals in – either in nature or forages – and the form most representative of that which animals are adapted to utilize. With higher bioavailability, we also can supplement organic trace minerals, such as proteinates, at lower levels and see better results. This is extremely important, as both undersupplementation and oversupplementation can be detrimental to animal health. Oversupplementation, especially with inorganic trace mineral sources, can lead to mineral-to-mineral interactions, degradation of other essential nutrients (including vitamins) and potentially have a negative impact on the environment as well.
Benefits of organic trace minerals, such as proteinates and selenium yeast, have been well-documented and include improvements in reproductive efficiency, getting more cows bred earlier in the cycle, higher conception rates, improvement in the number of embryos harvested and embryo quality, better passive immune transfer and heavier calves at weaning. Nutrition can also impact fetal programming. Several studies have shown that trace mineral sources and supplementation during gestation can impact the reproductive development and performance of the developing calf, even while in utero.
Trace minerals are also extremely important for semen quality, and feeding organic trace minerals can have a direct impact on semen volume and quality. Optimizing trace mineral status in stressed animals (stockers and receiving cattle) can also impact their immunity and how they respond to vaccines and certain health challenges, including bovine respiratory disease (BRD).
Inorganic trace minerals are listed as oxides (i.e., zinc oxide), sulfates (i.e., zinc sulfate) or hydroxies (i.e., tribasic zinc chloride) or sodium selenite (inorganic selenium), whereas organic trace minerals include proteinates (i.e., zinc proteinate) and selenium yeast.
Keep in mind, just as there are differences between inorganic and organic trace minerals, there are also different categories and brands of organic trace minerals. Not all brands are equal in quality, which impacts overall bioavailability and animal performance, so always ask for product-specific research when you make your decision.
When comparing different programs, make sure you look at feeding rates and monitor actual consumption if possible. When comparing two different brands and one is a 4-ounce mineral versus a 2-ounce mineral, you can divide the cost per 50-pound bag by the number of feedings, which will tell you the cost per animal per day for an easier comparison than just looking at the cost per bag of mineral.
Key steps for selecting mineral supplements
- Look at your ingredient list and compare the quality of ingredients used and/or bioavailability, not just amounts or the cost of minerals.
- Trace mineral supplementation is more than just preventing a deficiency. Supplement for optimized performance and genetic potential.
- Cows’ trace mineral status at breeding and throughout gestation can have long-term effects on reproductive efficiency and offspring’s performance.
- Trace mineral status in stressed cattle can impact how they deal with health challenges and also impact weight gain.
- The right or wrong mineral program can have a direct impact on calving percentage, calving interval, weaning weights, calf uniformity, average daily gain (ADG) and health.
