08/07/2026
You may notice a slight increase in mineral consumption as the summer progresses. My thoughts are for two reasons: an increasing calf intake & the nutritional value of grass changing which increases cow intake.
I don’t worry too much about it because it seems like it all evens out over the course of the year. I like looking at it as a whole production year rather than a month to month or week to week basis since diets / nutrition change so much over the course of the year.
I have some people tell me, “my cows are out of mineral each time I go check them!” This really isn’t a good sign because depending on how often you check them, they may have been out for several days. This leads to some cows just not getting mineral, others scarfing it when it’s available, calves being shorted mineral, etc. At that point, your mineral program is in no way paying for itself, and might just be a waste of your money. I don’t want that for you, so if you need any tips on how to manage mineral consumption, please reach out. I’m happy to help!
Our mineral is a target of 4 oz or 0.25 lbs / cow per day. You can add an extra 1/2 an oz. if your calves are decent size. A quick reference I like to use in my head is that a pasture of 25 pair will / should go through a bag of mineral in 8 days.
P.S. Mineral goes on sale again in September through October.
