Home Top Freeze Branding Freeze branding can bring an end to identification problems that missing tags at calving time can bring. Freeze branding is a safe and humane method of permanently identifying your cow herd. Freeze branding works by applying a very cold agent to the are of the hide you want to affect. Freeze branding stops the hair follicle from producing color or pigment, and the affected area grows back white, so it works only on colored cattle. Home Top Mineral Supplementation of Beef Herds by Dr. Dan Loy, Iowa State University Minerals are essential for the production of beef cattle.
Minerals are components of growth and milk production, as well as several life sustaining processes.
There are known requirements for 13 separate minerals, and others are thought to be essential. Many common feeds fed to beef cattle are rich in minerals. Therefore, with some knowledge of mineral requirements and their changes with production, the relative mineral content of feeds and regional or localized deficiencies, mineral supplementation program need not be expensive or complex. This article will review the mineral requirements of beef cattle, the mineral content of common cornbelt feeds, and some potential mineral related nutritional problems that may occur in this region. Table 1, shows the mineral requirements of beef cattle.