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Alltech Mineral Myths Forum: Two key takeaways from Ridley Block Operations

March 6, 2018

This year at the Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show, Alltech sponsored the Mineral Myths Forum, which featured industry representatives and their discussion on the myths behind mineral supplementation. We interviewed two experts who were present at the forum to hear their takeaways from the event.

Mineral quality over quantity

Dr. Vaughn Holder, ruminant research director at Alltech, was interested in the discussion surrounding the levels of minerals in supplements.

“The key point to take away from this forum is that you cannot judge a bag of mineral supplements by its cover,” said Holder. “The fact that a certain bag has higher levels of minerals in it does not mean it should be worth more to your enterprise. It is more about the quality of the components that are inside of the bag, and sometimes you can get away with using much lower levels of quality minerals and actually achieve better results. Remember, sometimes less is more!”

The saying “less is more” is one that we hear often, but not always when it comes to mineral supplementation. Holder emphasizes the fact that some companies focus strictly on quantity of minerals, not necessarily quality. However, in a University of Florida study featuring Alltech’s Bioplex® and Sel-Plex® organic trace minerals, it was found that, even when included at lower rates than their inorganic counterparts, Alltech organic trace minerals still managed to outperform the standard mineral in various areas, including weaning weights, pregnancy rates and even colostrum quality. For a full recap of this study, which was featured in the February issue of Progressive Cattleman magazine, click here.

Mineral antagonists

Another point discussed during the forum was the concept of “mineral antagonists,” a complex-sounding topic that is actually very simple — something that blocks or decreases the absorption rate or metabolic function of a nutrient. We pulled in Mark Robbins, manager of research and technical services at Ridley Block Operations (the makers of CRYSTALYX®), to speak on the issue.

“If you have mineral antagonists, which is where you have situations in which inorganic trace minerals aren’t your best option, the Blueprint® program that we have formulated with Total Replacement Technology™ using organic trace minerals is the way to go,” he said. Research has shown that certain organic trace mineral complexes resemble those found naturally in plant proteins, and this may be the reason that they do not act as antagonists in the ration.

We hope you enjoyed the Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show as much as we did this year, and if you didn’t get a chance to attend, visit our Facebook page for recaps of the event. We hope to see you next year in New Orleans, Louisiana!

 

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Panelists Dr. Vaughn Holder, Dr. Tanya Covey, Mark Robbins and Dr. Matt Hersom at the Alltech Mineral Myths Forum during the 2018 NCBA conference. 

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