Beef Cows – Salt and Mineral

Beef Cows – Salt and Mineral
It is a common management practice to provide salt and mineral supplements to cattle grazing pasture or on
forage diets. Forage, when immature and growing will contain much higher levels of minerals than mature
weathered forage. Recent research conducted by OSU researchers has made these findings:
All forages require salt supplementation as a source of sodium.
Summer native range and prairie hay require phosphorus supplementation.
Most forages common in Oklahoma re deficient in copper and zinc.
Legume based forages require little mineral supplementation except for zinc and salt.
Fescue forage is deficient in selenium, while Bermuda forage is marginal.
The most common method to provide mineral supplementation is losing free choice mineral supplements.
Animal intake of free choice milkweed is extremely variable. Some cattle will consume none; others will
consume 4-5 times the intended mineral amount.
Another interesting finding is that beef cows consumed more mineral in the fall and winter months than in
spring and summer.
Free choice salt and mineral mixtures vary in mineral content. Most range minerals will contain 10 to 12%
calcium and 8-12% phosphorus.
A simple mixture of 45 pounds dicalcium phosphate and 10 pounds of cottonseed meal will contain about 10%
calcium and 8% phosphorus. Cows will consume 2-4 ounces/day of this mixture. Cost will be about $13/50
pound, plus you get the exercise of mixing. As this mix contains no mineral oil to repel water, it should be
offered in a covered feeder. The yearly cow cost for this salt mineral mix will be about $18 per head.
A commercial mineral, containing similar levels of calcium and phosphorus, can cost about 23 dollars/50 pounds.
Yearly cow cost for mineral supplementation with this product at similar intakes will cost about 31 dollars/head.
An economic salt and mineral mixture that should work well with most forage in eastern Oklahoma to provide
supplemental salt, phosphorus, copper and zinc (2-4 ounces/day intake) is the following:
Ingredient
Salt
Dicalcium Phosphate
Copper Sulfate a)
Zinc Oxide b)
Mineral Content
Calcium
Phosphorus
Copper
Zinc
a) 25% copper
b) 78% zinc
c) Do not feed to sheep
%
50
49.15
.40
.45
10.80
9.33
.1
.35