Mineral Supplements For The Transition To Winter

Precision feeding is playing an ever-increasing role in guaranteeing the sustainability of a profitable livestock production system. Fertility is crucial for a modern livestock farming operation and nutrition is key to its success. Relying on the same summer and winter supplements year after year is no longer an option.

- Andries Gouws

In addition to providing the right amounts of protein and energy, cattle and sheep require at least seven different trace minerals, such as copper, zinc, cobalt, manganese, iron, selenium and iodine, to produce optimally, says Alheit du Toit, livestock expert at Feedtek.

Growth and nutritional value

The nutritional value of grass veld grazing decreases drastically once it approaches physiological maturity and starts to produce seed, says Alheit. This is when the plant translocates protein from the stems and leaves to the roots, resulting in a rapid drop in the protein content of the plant parts remaining above ground.

At the same time, the plant becomes more fibrous and woodier in a bid to maintain its structural integrity, especially if it grew rapidly during the growth stage. This increase in hard-to-digest components, coupled with a drop in protein, are detrimental for the rumen microbes responsible for breaking down the plant material in the ruminant’s rumen, causing their numbers and the rate of fermentation to decrease.

This results in a slower bypass rate and reduced feed intake. The condition of livestock therefore deteriorates, as body reserves are partitioned towards essential functions, with associated production and reproduction losses.

The purpose of supplementation

The main reason for nutritional supplementation in ruminants is to support microbial function, thereby optimising the digestion of crude fibre from plant material. The only way to achieve this is by providing microbes with the necessary, correctly balanced nutrients which are deficient at certain times.