When it comes to nutrition, even the small things matter. Minerals, which are required in small amounts relative to nutrients like energy and protein, play a crucial role in the diet. One of my colleagues describes minerals like mortar, while energy and protein are the bricks in a wall. Immune function, reproductive performance and growth all depend on physiological processes supported by minerals. But more importantly, the success of those processes impacts economically important traits such as calf crop, weaning weight, average daily gain and carcass merit.
While forages and byproduct feeds often contain some amount of various minerals, there is not one forage or feed that contains all of the required minerals in adequate amounts. It is wise to provide a complete, free-choice mineral year-round to ensure that mineral requirements are met. When choosing a mineral product, look for a complete mineral. That is, it should contain calcium and phosphorus and other macrominerals. Trace mineralized salt or plain white salt do not provide sufficient amounts of minerals, and providing these products alongside a complete mineral can cause mineral intake to be diluted.
Additionally, providing minerals “cafeteria style,” i.e., by individual nutrient, can create imbalances, as cattle will typically just eat what tastes best and leave the rest alone. A balanced complete mineral will contain salt to facilitate intake, and proper ratios of calcium, phosphorus, other macrominerals and microminerals, taking into account any mineral interactions that may take place. A good mineral program does not have to be expensive when considering annual cost per cow. However, providing a cheap mineral or no mineral can end up being quite expensive, due to the subclinical issues that may result from a mineral deficiency. Subclinical means we cannot see the direct symptoms of the deficiency. I like to think of a subclinical deficiency like having a screw in your tire. Subclinical issues resulting from the air leak would be uneven tire wear and reduced fuel efficiency. These things may not be completely obvious, but they are slowly reducing the overall performance of your vehicle. The clinical sign of a screw in the tire is, of course, a flat tire. Cattle not receiving the proper amount of minerals may have compromised immune function and reduced fertility rates. Overall herd performance and efficiency suffer, even if there are not clinical signs. Detailed record-keeping is the key to being able to identify these subclinical issues.
A good mineral program can help to mitigate the risk of a deficiency and contribute to the overall success of the cattle herd. And as the adage goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
