DI-Why Homemade Mineral Mixes?

Our livestock give their entire being to us — it’s the least we can do to protect and nourish them generously, and that means providing them a professionally prepared mineral mix

As a farmer, it’s in my blood to tinker with things. I love fixing things myself from parts in the barn or building something I need from scratch. This is great for things like a clever new gate latch or replacing a fan belt on the tractor.

But there are a few things on the farm that are best left to the pros. Livestock mineral mixes are one of them!

Here are the main reasons that it is very difficult for you to make your own high-quality homemade mineral mixes for your animals.

You will be buying unknown ingredients in tiny quantities that will cost you a fortune. Manufacturers buy in train-car or semi loads.

Your ingredients will have a 99 percent likelihood of being made in China or India. These products are contaminated with cadmium, lead, arsenic, mercury and other heavy metals because these countries have virtually no federal regulations on pollution like the EPA. Sure, you bought yours from a guy named John Smith, but where did he get it? Or how about the three middlemen who raised the price before Mr. Smith got it?

Your recipe will almost be guaranteed to be unbalanced, with certain minerals — probably the ones you love — wackily out of equilibrium. Minerals themselves are most often heavy metals, and ingredients such as selenium are deadly poisons in too high a dose. If you (like most farmers) are prone to thinking that “if a little is good, more will be better,” the sad joke will be on you!

How many ingredients are you adding? There are 30 critical minerals required for life and reproduction, including trace ingredients like chromium, boron, cobalt, vanadium, strontium, graphite, antimony and many more. It’s very difficult to include all of these in your own mixes.

You don’t have time to do this! If you own livestock, your to-do list is a mile long, and you need to focus on other things. And, to do mineral formulations right, you need years of training.

Unfortunately, as a lifelong large-animal vet, I’ve found that most homemade mixes are an expensive combination of the wrong ingredients that not only don’t work, but that may actually set your herd health back.

All infectious and parasite diseases is caused by a weak immune system. There are three main reasons for this: 1) genetic flaws from bad breeding; 2) malnutrition, including lack of minerals and vitamins; and 3) toxicity and pollution — a real factor that is now getting to be very common. Most American farms have all three going on all the time.

To me, nutrition is the last place to go cheap. Doing so is like buying a brand-new Ferrari, and since it was so expensive, deciding to use gas from your old lawnmower can!

Sadly, buying livestock supplements from the giant corporations like Purina or Cargill is the equivalent of letting your livestock eat at McDonald’s every day. An occasional Big Mac probably won’t kill you or even make you sick, but we know what happens when people eat it every day. This is what the majority of ranchers, dairymen and farmers do to their livestock — they begrudge even a penny for minerals, yet they wholeheartedly open their wallet wide open for vet bills and needless preventatives such as vaccines, antibiotics and chemical wormers.

Also regrettably, your local feed mill — where you would love to buy everything you need — is also almost guaranteed to sell you inadequate livestock minerals. Many supplements include ethanol plant swill (dried distillers grains), synthetic preservatives, artificial flavors and colors, and the absolute cheapest ingredients across the board. There is no way the customer can know this just from reading the label.

Our livestock deserve the very best, and it’s our sacred duty as farmers and ranchers to steward them well. These animals give their entire being to us — it’s the least we can do to protect and nourish them generously.