Can't help think that we are sometimes too clever in science.
Science is a useful tool, but as farmers we should also allow the plants and
stock to tell us what they need.
Ever considered free choice minerals for the stock? Use the soil test to
identify the minerals out of balance and then make these individually
available at all times. Don't mix them together. This is so the stock can
chose what it needs when it needs it. Include kelp and you will have the
complete catalyser to enable optimum mineral uptake.
It is amazing what stock will do to get their mineral fill. Ever tried
copper sulphate? It is sooo unpalatable and yet they will take it if there
is no other source.
Observe the consumption patterns and you will notice they wax and wane as
the seasons change and the demands on the stock change. Of course this also
coincides with the plant growth phase and the minerals available through
forage.
Animals need to browse just as we do, so free choice is only sensible.
Regards,
Gerhard Grasser
Secretary, Gippsland Organic Livestock Inc.
Treasurer, Organic Federation of Australia
AgriSolutions Pty Ltd
PO Box 81
Darnum VIC 3822
Australia
Tel / Fax (03) 5627 8663
Tel (INT) 61+3 5627 8663
***Natural farming advisory service
***Soil fertility specialists - Albrecht & Mikhail principles
***Vaporjet non-chemical weeding systems
***Independent soil, water and foliage testing
***Kelp, seaweeds and fish for soil, plants and animals
***Mineral fertilisers and stock supplements
***Natural farm inputs - hydrogen peroxide, trace elements, humates,
biologicals, organic fertilisers
***Fodder & pasture seeds
"A man should farm as if he would live 1,000 years, but live as though he
were to die tomorrow."
----- Original Message -----
From: "Oogie McGuire" <oogiem@desertweyr.com>
To: <graze-l@witt.ac.nz>
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2003 2:01 AM
Subject: Re: [Graze-l] a new dairy
> Another interesting thing, our soils test out high in zinc,
> manganese, copper and iron. But my forage tests were barely adequate
> for zinc, copper and selenium and the sheep liver tests (from butcher
> sheep) showed deficiencies in those minerals. Not enough to start
> giving bo-se shots and copper boluses but enough to change the
> mineral package to include more copper and more zinc and a fairly
> high selenium level as well.
>
> We never did soil testing for molybdenum, the soils guy said it
> doesn't matter to the plants.
>
> My vet started to think it was causing problems for the sheep so we
> did test the forage for molybdenum and it was very high, hence the
> reason the sheep need more copper, zinc and selenium to balance it.
> I've also found that according to research done in Scotland, my breed
> of sheep is known to need/tolerate more copper than many other
> breeds. Most folks are told never supplement copper to sheep, we're
> actually going to be adding a portion of a cattle mineral to the mix
> to get enough copper into the sheep. We're already adding lots of
> extra zinc. We have also had to really modify the mineral mix because
> the sheep were not eating enough. We had a nicely balanced diet but
> if the sheep won't eat it then it doesn't work. So we had to adjust
> salt in the mineral to get it low enough to get the sheep to eat it
> in the quantity we needed to get the other minerals into them.
>
> Next year I am hoping to test the soils for all the same things I am
> testing the forages for and also the same things I am testing the
> sheep livers for.
>
> In the long run it doesn't matter what our soils are, it's what the
> animals are actually getting and I've discovered the molybdenum can
> really mess with your results if you are not looking at it.
>
> Testing is expensive, but I think it's the best way to know what is
> really going on. You need the feedback of postmortem liver samples to
> see what is really getting into your animals.
> --
> Oogie McGuire - oogiem@desertweyr.com
> Weyr Associates - Multimedia and Web Authoring Services & Consulting
> Desert Weyr - CMK Arabian horses and Black Welsh Mountain Sheep
> http://www.desertweyr.com/
> Paonia, CO USA
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