Free-choice mineral is a common part of cow-calf management, but selecting the right product can be challenging. Forage mineral concentration, stage of production, mineral intake, and interactions among minerals all affect whether cattle are likely to meet their needs.  

To help producers work through those decisions, Nebraska Extension has developed a new mineral calculator tool with funding from NCR-SARE and the Iowa Beef Industry Council. The calculator is designed to help producers evaluate free-choice mineral products in relation to cattle requirements and the mineral contribution from forage and other feed sources.  

The mineral calculator and related resources can be found at https://go.unl.edu/minerals  

Why the Mineral Calculator Can Help 

Mineral decisions are not always straightforward. One of the major challenges with evaluating a mineral program is that cattle mineral requirements are expressed as a concentration in the total diet. However, a free-choice mineral mix is only a small fraction of what the animal consumes each day. This makes it difficult to look at a requirement, look at a mineral tag, and know whether the product is actually filling the gap. The mineral calculator is designed to overcome this barrier. In addition, some minerals interact with one another. This means that looking only at the concentration of one mineral may not accurately reflect what the animal can use. The calculator is designed to account for some of the common mineral interactions that influence mineral availability. 

The mineral calculator is intended to help producers compare mineral products and evaluate whether a supplement is likely to help meet the needs of the class of cattle being fed. It is a decision-support tool, meaning the results depend on the information and assumptions entered.  

Tips for Using the Mineral Calculator 

Start with the class of cattle and production stage. Mineral needs are not the same for every animal. A lactating cow, a dry pregnant cow, and a growing calf have different requirements. Be sure the animal type and stage of production match the cattle you are evaluating. 

Use forage test results when available. Forage can provide a substantial portion of some mineral needs, but forage mineral concentrations vary by forage type, maturity, soil, and weather. A forage mineral analysis from your own pasture or hay is best and will provide the most reliable results. 

When a forage test is not available, the calculator includes forage mineral values from samples submitted to Ward Laboratories over an 8-year period. These values are broken down by Nebraska region based on where samples were submitted and placed into regional libraries. These book values can provide a general estimate, but results should be interpreted with more caution because the actual forage being fed may be higher or lower than the average value. 

Pay attention to mineral mix intake. Free-choice mineral programs are built around expected intake, often expressed as ounces per head per day. If cattle consume less than expected, they may not receive enough supplemental mineral. If they consume more than expected, cost increases and some minerals may be oversupplied. Checking mineral disappearance is one of the most practical ways to evaluate whether intake is close to the target. Tips for managing mineral intake can be found at: https://go.unl.edu/mineralintake  

In addition to herd-level intake management, it is important to remember that individual animals do not all consume the same amount of mineral. Some cows will consume more than the target intake and others will consume less.  Accounting for intake variation may mean that some overage is needed in the mineral mix formulation to reduce the risk that a large portion of the herd does not meet requirements. For example, based on typical intake distributions observed within a herd, increasing the concentration of supplemental minerals in a 4-ounce mineral by 53% would be expected to meet the needs of approximately 75% of the cows in the herd. The calculator allows users to account for this variation by adding an enhancement to the mineral targets in the supplement. 

Remember that calves consume mineral too. In cow-calf pairs, mineral disappearance reflects intake by both cows and nursing calves. If calves have access to mineral, they can begin consuming mineral within the first few weeks of life. By 3 months of age, calves may consume 20 to 60% of the amount consumed by cows. Accounting for this additional intake is important for ensuring that disappearance is high enough to allow the cows to meet their needs. For more information on nursing calf free-choice mineral intake, visit: https://go.unl.edu/calfmineral  

Additional Resources 

Recordings from a two-part webinar series, Making the Most of Your Free-Choice Mineral Program, are also available to provide an in-depth look at cow/calf mineral nutrition.  

• Part 1: Cow-Calf Mineral Basics Webinar- click here to view. 

This session provides the foundation for evaluating and selecting a mineral program. The webinar discusses mineral supplementation as a form of insurance, why subclinical deficiencies can limit performance, and which minerals are stored in the body compared with those that require more consistent intake. It also covers common mineral challenges in cow-calf systems, how forage testing can help guide mineral decisions, and why producers need to look at more than just the amount of one mineral to understand what the animal can actually use. 

• Part 2: Meeting Needs and Managing Intake  Webinar- click here to view. 

This session focuses on meeting vitamin A needs in cow-calf systems, practical strategies for managing mineral intake, and how to use the new calculator tool to evaluate mineral products or formulate a custom mineral. 

Final Thoughts 

Producers interested in improving their free-choice mineral program can use the calculator, webinar recordings, and related Nebraska Extension resources to work through key questions: 

• What are the mineral needs of the cattle being fed? 
• What does the forage or diet already provide? 
• What does the mineral product add? 
• Are cattle consuming the needed amount? 

Free-choice mineral supplementation is often viewed as insurance, but the value of that insurance depends on whether the product fits the cattle, forage, and management situation. These new resources are intended to help producers make more informed decisions and get more value from their mineral program. Producers are also encouraged to reach out to their local Extension educator for help using the calculator and working through mineral decisions for their own operation. 

Resources

The mineral calculator and related resources can be found at https://go.unl.edu/minerals