With so many choices, it’s easy to feel confused about which block is the right fit for your herd. The best option depends on what nutrients your cattle are lacking and what goals you want to achieve. Whether you’re trying to boost health, improve reproduction, or address a specific deficiency, matching the block to your needs is key.
Understanding forages is a key factor in making informed decisions about your herd’s nutrition. While the abundance of information can be overwhelming, don’t let it discourage you. The decision becomes much more apparent once you grasp what your pastures lack and what your cattle need. It’s all about empowering yourself to make the best choices for your operation.
Minerals: The Building Blocks of Herd Health
Minerals, including salt, are some of the most essential nutrients that your animal can consume. They control things like overall performance, health, and reproductive efficiency. In my previous post, “What you don’t know about minerals can hurt,” I went into more detail about the importance of minerals in your cow’s diet. When it comes to minerals, as with anything, it all starts with your forages.
Making sure that your animals get the correct amount of nutrients they need can be daunting. But as I have said before, the key to building any solid supplementation program is to begin from the “ground up,” if you will. Forages play a crucial role in the nutrients that your cattle take in, but they do have disadvantages.
What Forages Bring to the Table
Given the fluctuation in mineral output, it’s vital to have your forages tested to make informed decisions about your supplementation program. While it may not be necessary to do it every year, regular testing can provide a solid estimate of what your pastures will provide. This proactive approach ensures you’re always one step ahead in meeting your herd’s nutritional needs.
Mineral output can change from one region of the country to another. In fact, there can be differences in pastures in the same local county. Things like soil type and time of year, rainfall, and the variety of forage can affect mineral output.
The only way you can know what you would be deficient in is to have your forages tested. Your local county extension agent can assist you with that.
Why Do Cattle Crave Salt?
Now that we have covered the basics of why cattle need minerals, let’s get more specific. Much like humans, cattle have a nutritional need for salt.
Salt is one of the few minerals that cattle actually “crave.” This craving means that they will seek it out. If they cannot get it from their regular diet, they will try to get it in other ways. They will consume some very weird and potentially dangerous stuff to get their salt fixed, such as licking or eating soil, drinking urine, or even chewing on wood or metal objects.
Despite this craving, their consumption of salt can vary greatly. Some studies have found that cattle will not go to a salt block for several days but then return to it and overconsume it. In this context, overconsumption refers to the intake of salt beyond what is necessary for the animal’s health, which can lead to health issues such as salt poisoning. This type of fluctuation can make it hard to pin down a steady consumption rate, so it’s important to monitor your cattle’s salt intake and ensure they don’t overconsume.
Salt is necessary for the proper function of beef cattle’s nervous and muscular systems. It can also regulate the body’s pH and the amount of water retained. Promoting water intake can help maintain or improve milk production and overall herd health.
A deficiency in this nutrient causes a loss of appetite, which in turn causes inefficient weight gain or body weight loss.
Cattle must consume 0.005% to 0.010% of their body weight in salt daily. Generally speaking, a mature cow, roughly 1,300 lbs to 1,400 lbs, requires between 35 and 45 grams of salt daily to maintain good health. You can expect a herd of 100 cows to go through a 55lb bag of salt/mineral in about a week.
A Breakdown of Salt Block Types
Salt and mineral supplements come in a variety of forms, and each type serves a specific purpose. Choosing the right one can feel overwhelming, but understanding the differences can help you make the best decision for your herd. Each type of salt block is formulated with certain nutrients to address specific deficiencies or challenges. Whether it’s improving overall health, managing pests, or balancing your cattle’s diet, there’s a block for just about every need. By knowing what each block is designed to do, you can ensure your animals get the right support for their health and productivity.
To help make things easier, I’ve broken down the different types of salt blocks and their uses. Each color represents a unique mix of nutrients or a specific purpose, from basic white salt blocks to selenium-rich black blocks. By understanding these options, you’ll have a clearer idea of which block is the best fit for your operation. Let’s take a closer look at the different types and what they bring to the table!
White Salt Blocks
- This one contains just regular table salt and nothing more
- Since it provides no other nutritional value, this one is not really recommended
- About the only use that this one has is using it to draw cattle into underutilized areas of the pasture
- This block is often used with another one, such as a trace mineral or sulfur block
Yellow Salt Blocks
- Along with salt, this one also contains sulfur (hence the yellow color)
- Developed for use in southern U.S. pastures that have a problem with insects and ticks
Red Salt Blocks
- Contains salt, iron, and iodine
- There is a need for this particular block in the Great Lakes, Midwest, Northeast, and Rocky Mountain regions of the U.S.
Blue Salt Blocks
- This one contains cobalt and iodine
- Canada’s British Columbia and Alberta regions needed it
Brown or Trace Mineral Salt Blocks
- It contains the trace minerals cobalt, iodine, iron, zinc, copper, molybdenum, and manganese.
- This block is an excellent all-around salt block to use
- Producers in the Western U.S. ranges should use this one
Black Salt Block
- It contains everything the brown trace mineral one does and has selenium.
- You use it when your pasture doesn’t have enough selenium.
- A selenium deficiency can cause white muscle disease in cattle
- Word of caution: only use this if you actually have a deficiency because too much selenium can be very dangerous
There are many different resources out there where you can find more about cattle mineral requirements and how to best provide for them. I have discovered the one from the University of Georgia to be very helpful, and you can find it by clicking here.