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On suckler farms with autumn-calving cows, many herd owners prefer to calve these animals at grass during August and September.
That means autumn calving is just five weeks away for some farmers.
As such, introducing pre-calving minerals to cows calving in early to mid-August is recommended. Ideally, minerals will be fed from four to six weeks ahead of calving.
Feeding a good pre-calving mineral will help to reduce issues such as cows holding the placenta after calving or the number of calves that are slow to stand and feed unassisted.
Options
Minerals can be fed in various forms, all of which have merits and drawbacks. The best option is whatever is most affordable, practical and easy to implement on your farm.
Choose a mineral with low or zero calcium and high magnesium content. Trace elements such as iodine, selenium, vitamin E, copper and phosphorous should be included.
Grazed grass will also provide minerals in the diet. But there can be a greater concentration of some trace elements and a shortage of others such as iodine and selenium.
Minerals in forage will also be determined by soil type as some soils can lock up trace elements. For example, high molybdenum soils will lock up copper.
Therefore, providing a purpose-made mineral will ensure animals are properly supplemented in the run-up to calving.
SHARING OPTIONS: