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

Extended dry periods highlight the value of regular lime application. Lime helps to improve soil structure leading to better moisture retention and root development. It also improves water absorption. This is especially important on hill country – when rainfall comes it is important that the soil to absorbs water quickly to avoid surface run-off.

These improvements are in a large-part due to increased microbial and earth worm activity creating a better aerated soil. Soil biology responds positively to lime which also leads to improved nutrient cycling. Active soil biology can mineralise more nutrients from organic matter and improve ultilisation of other fertiliser inputs. Optimal utilisation of inputs will be critical for future development while working within nutrient budgets.

More intensive farming of hill country increases the rate of soil acidification and threatens to diminish productivity if regular liming does not occur. This has a detrimental impact on soil biology and in more acid soils can lead to high soluble aluminum levels. Clover is especially prone to the effects of aluminum toxicity. The importance of healthy clover should not be overlooked — ultilising the nitrogen-fixing ability of legumes makes good economic sense.

Liming on hill country often falls behind because of the high cost of application. Optimise is ultra-fine lime in a pelletised form that has been shown to be effective at lower application rates than conventional aglime. This makes Optimise a practical and cost-effective means of applying lime to hill country. Optimise can also be custom blended to suit your specific needs. This means you can address liming and other nutrient requirements in a simple all-in- one application.

For more information freephone 0508 678 464 or see www.optimise.net.nz 

Canterbury Farming: http://issuu.com/nsmm/docs/cf_feb_2015/1

In addition to Vitalise Pelletised Calcium, we now have two new Vitalise products incorporating magnesium together with lime in the same pellet:
– Vitalise CalMag20 (containing 20% mag oxide)
– Vitalise CalMag30 (containing 30% mag oxide)

Click here for more info ...

Optimise milk production and minimise the potential for calcium deficiency. Vitalise pelletised calcium supplement aids in prevention of milk fever in dairy cows after calving and can be used to supplement calcium intake when low calcium feeds such as maize silage, cereal silage or grain is being fed.
– high quality lime (elemental calcium c35%)
– ultra-fine lime pelletised for ease of handling with minimal dust
– ideal for grain feeding systems, or tipped onto supplementary feed

Guidelines for Use

Add to supplementary feed.

For prevention of milk fever use:
– 100-300g/cow/day

As a dietary supplement use:
– 60–120g/kg of feed (wet basis)
– 20–40g/kg of feed (dry matter basis)

These are guidelines only. Consult your veterinarian or animal nutritionalist for specific dosage rates.

Important

This product should not be fed pre-calving unless directed by a veterinarian.

Need More Info?

Click here to get in contact with us or to learn how to order Vitalise Pelletised Calcium Supplement.

CP Lime Solutions is proud to be announced as a finalist for the 2012 North Canterbury Business Awards in the Westpac Exceptional Sustainable Business category. 

The 2012 New Zealand Sheep Dog Trial Association New Zealand Championships and the South Island Championships will be held over the week of 28 May – 2 June 2012 at Alpha Burn Station, Wanaka. Optimise is proud to be a sponsor of the event. For more info see http://www.sheepdogtrials.co.nz/

The recently completed extension of the Scargill store has more than doubled storage capacity. Having experienced substantial growth past several years, this expansion enables us to continue to meet peak-season demand going forward.

Our offices are in the Christchurch CBD and have been badly damaged, but all of our team have escaped unharmed. Our production facility is in North Canterbury and has not been effected. Communications were down but phone, email and ordering systems are now operational again.

Thank you to all of you who have expressed their concerns, and your understanding while our office functions are fully restored. Our thoughts are with those who have lost family and friends.

An extension at the Scargill store will more than double storage capacity in 2011.

Optimise is a custom-manufactured lime-based fertiliser that is certified for organic production.

Gone are the days of the one-size-fits-all approach to fertiliser. Soil testing and a targeted approach to nutrient application are ess%ntial to maximise your crop’s potential. Optimise is a pelletised lime-based fertiliser that can be manufactured to your requirements to include sulphur, RPR, potassium and trace elements. All ingredients are fine-ground and then pelletised. The pellets make the product very easy to handle and makes for accurate application with minimal dust.

Optimising Nutrient Application

Lime is essentially a rock that breaks down very slowly. Grinding it to an extremely fine particle size creates considerably more surface area. It is this surface area that makes fine lime so readily available and effective. The same principle applies to other products that we apply in mineral form. All the ingredients of your Optimise custom blend are micronised to ensure the benefit of ultra-fine particle size in a form that can be distributed evenly. 

Optimising Nutrient Application

Another important but often over-looked factor is getting accurate application and even distribution. Larger particles have better ballistic qualities, so some products will inherently spread better than others. Fine particles don’t spread nearly so well, but ironically it is the fine particles that are more effective and in an ideal situation would be evenly distributed across your block.

This is especially in important with high-value trace elements that are applied at relatively low rates, in some cases as little as 0.1kg/ha. These are extremely small amounts to spread evenly over a paddock.

By fine-grinding and incorporating trace elements into the pellets you get accurate and even distribution of all ingredients. Incorporating trace elements in the pellets also means you can get excellent coverage even with light rates. You also have a product that is easy to handle and can be applied accurately with conventional spreading equipment, aerial contractors or even drilled.

Optimising Nutrient Application

Modern high-analysis fertilisers such as DAP are in a form that is excellent for spreading. Organic growers are limited in the products that can be applied and unfortunately many organic certified products are not so straightforward. Optimise gets around this with a unique all-in-one easy-to-apply solid fertiliser product. Optimise is certified by AsureQuality to produce blends that are suitable as inputs for organic production. Now organic producers have a product that is as easy-to-apply as modern high-analysis fertilisers yet can be customised to suit your organic program.