Providing the right minerals for grazing beef cattle

Like all animals, beef cattle need an appropriate amount of minerals to allow for proper body function, lactation and growth. Grazing cattle intake most of their minerals through the forages they eat, but grass and forbs can provide different levels of minerals, depending on their growth stage and the soil they grow in. Cattle, too, have differing levels of mineral requirements depending on their stage of production. 

There are 17 minerals cattle require. They are divided into macrominerals: calcium, chlorine, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and sulfur; and microminerals: chromium, cobalt, copper, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, selenium and zinc. To understand mineral needs, a producer should understand both the cattle’s needs and the mineral content of their forages. There are several resources available that can provide data on cattle mineral requirements, and the average mineral content of various grasses and forbs cattle graze. These resources can be helpful to determine the level of minerals provided by the forages being grazed. The key is to be aware that cattle’s mineral needs and the minerals available in their forage changes over time. For example, bred cattle may require .21% of their daily ration (on a dry matter basis) of calcium but this increases to .30% when they are lactating. Conversely, minerals such as calcium are most available from new growth plants and decrease as plants mature.

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