Dairy News: "Simple and Cost Effective Mineral Supplement"

A new pelletised mineral supplement is providing a way forward for farmers looking to improve efficiency with in-shed mineral supplementation. Vitalise is a pelletised calcium and magnesium supplement, developed by CP Lime Solutions. The pellets have some significant advantages over dusting, providing a far more accurate and reliable dose, and minimising wastage. The unique process produces a pellet without grain which results in a high concentration mineral pellet that keeps costs down and allows for flexibility. The company is also producing custom runs for users wanting DCP or trace elements included.

Early adopters of the Vitalise pellets, Josh and Doris Stainton, milk 920 cows on 243ha of irrigated flats in Culverden. They run a pasture-based system with supplementary in-shed feeding. In the past they had been supplementing magnesium through the water supply and dusting pastures with mag oxide in the spring. “Dusting is a bit hit and miss, plus it takes time and is hard on equipment,” says Josh. Because they are feeding grain in-shed there is the opportunity to dispense minerals with the feed ration. Initially they experimented with feeding neat mag oxide in-shed through a mineral dispenser but the dust caused problems and it was not very palatable. Cows would avoid eating it and the residual max oxide would “set like concrete”.

They were searching for a better solution and when they heard about the newly developed Vitalise mineral pellets. The pellets provide both calcium (fine lime) and mag oxide in a form that is practical to feed. “Once the cows are on the pellets we have no milk fever issues”.

Josh says that for their system the costs are comparable (to dispensing mag chloride and dusting), but the results are more reliable and there is considerable amount of time saved.

Avoiding cows going down with milk fever has considerable benefits. Not only is there the time and cost of treating, but also the lost production and potential flow on effect on mating. It is also important to remember the significant unseen cost in subclinical milk fever (and subsequent loss of DM intake and production) which can be avoided with reliable magnesium and calcium supplementation. 

Dairy News: http://issuu.com/ruralnewsgroup/docs/rn580_march_17/1