Ian Buckingham wrote:
> Working on these figures 200 head at .05c/day is $10 x 365 days
> US$4562.5 per year. Would it not be better to add it to the soil and
> therefore the plants? Far cheaper. Here in NZ (depending on the mineral)
> you are looking at $7 / ha. So our bill last year for mineral
> supplementation (via the soil - Mo, Co, Se) was US$800 approx. The moly
> was for the clover. Cobalt and Selenium for the animals.
If you are only going to include a few micro nutrients, this might be
practical. But the range minerals we feed have quite a large number of
minerals and vitamins so I would expect it to be many times higher.
Also, we are only looking at maybe 180 days of quality pasture, not 365.
Your math above may be a little high for the 200 head at $10 for 365 days.
The rest of the year you would still have to feed the minerals anyway for
good nutrition for the livestock. We are looking at $9/head/day for the 180
days on sward. So even if we only used a few micronutrients as you mention
above, it would be quite close in cost and does not even require fossil
fuels to spread.
By the way, since we operate with a very small number of livestock,
typically only a little over 100 when on grass, a really large facilty would
be able to buy the minerals for less than what we pay.
Sincerely,
Rick Williams
Misty Ridge Farm
Grass-Fed Beef and farm produce
Viroqua, WI
www.mistyridgefarm.com
