No matter what agricultural show or event I’ve been to, it has always been the same – there are sales people on stands trying to convince you to buy something.

Or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they are trying to convince you that you need to buy something that is going to transform your business.

For example, recently there seems to be a surge in mineral supplement-type products. If you believed everything that they tell you, then you wouldn’t be long blowing some hard-earned cash. Some of the claims made are quite remarkable.

I have no doubt that they will all offer some benefit to the health and productivity of your cattle or sheep. And, if I’m honest, I have tried quite a lot of them.

But the marginal changes that they make makes it hard to really say if there has been an improvement. They could lift fertility by 5% and growth rate by another 5%, but how can you be sure that this is all down to these products?

Treatments

I have a friend who uses a lot of different treatments. He gives his cattle mineral drenches, mineral boluses and feeds bagged minerals. He also grazes his cattle well and makes some really good silage.

All in all, he ticks all the boxes and his cattle are always looking good and seem to be performing well. But there is one thing that I always ask him and, as yet, he hasn’t been able to answer. “Are these products giving you a financial reward for the money spent?”

I am always asking myself the same question every time I make a similar purchase.

I am a really sceptical person. I don’t like to trust a salesperson, or even a farmer’s testimony, without having some hard evidence to back it up.

This has all led me to take blood samples from my cows, young stock and sheep. I have been doing this for four or five years and at different stages of the year. It has helped me build up a profile of the mineral status of my stock and, in the bigger picture, it isn’t that expensive.

Sometimes it has saved me money and other times it has confirmed the right approach to take.

This year, I recently got some blood sampling done. I did a group of cows, a group of heifers and a selection of my ewes. Contrary to what some people might think, you don’t have to do everything, but just a random sample.

Results

The results are showing medium to high levels of copper, which is very consistent with other years. I know that the copper test isn’t completely accurate, but for me, having the same results for the last five years is a good indication that I don’t need any extra copper in the diet.

My selenium and iodine are both in the mid-range, so I just need to think about meeting requirements for these trace elements in late pregnancy and early lactation.

On other occasions, my iodine or selenium has been low, and I have had to use something extra. This has meant putting iodine tablets in the water, plus giving drenches and/or boluses. This year, I will just be feeding bagged minerals for now.

Advice

Of course, there are other good products out there that will undoubtedly aid some production systems. But just because they were right for someone else doesn’t mean they are right for you, and they might be necessary this year, but not next year.

My advice to other farmers would be to get some blood samples taken and find out the mineral status of your stock. Then talk to your vet and agricultural advisor and choose the product, or combination of products, that best suits your situation.

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