So many people in the wildlife industry are about fancy bags and wild claims versus science and reality. Sure, I have what is the most bioavailable deer mineral on the market, but it is not legal to use it everywhere. Even in places where it is legal to use supplements, here is some food for thought. This is another reason why you should look at G.R.O for your wildlife program.
Example:
Use XYZ deer mineral and have your trophy buck consume 1 oz. of it every other day. Use XYZ mineral that contains 16% calcium.
16% calcium
x .0625 lbs. of mineral consumed every other day
=.01 lbs. of calcium consumed every other day.
Now compare to a healthy soil and forage program that has 25% more minerals than the average because of positive inputs. In this example you have a clover plot where a buck consumes 1.5 lbs. of forage dry matter per head per day. In the clover plot the calcium level goes from 1.10% calcium to 1.50% calcium. If that trophy buck consumed a portion of their diet from the clover plot and in this example 1.5 lbs. of forage dry matter per head per day, here is the result:
1.5 lbs. of forage dry matter/hd/day from the clover plot
x .4% increase in calcium content
= .006 lbs. of extra calcium per/hd/day
.006 lbs. extra calcium per/hd/day x 2 days = .012 lbs. of extra calcium every other day
So you would get 0.01 lbs. calcium every other day through mineral supplementation and .012 lbs. of extra calcium every other day from a healthy soil and plant program. That is a 20% increase. It also would cost you 4.8 cents per animal per day to get that.
If one uses a foliar plant foods program and uses my 9-4-9 plant foods twice a year, that would cost you $10 per acre. If you average 15 ton of wet matter per year (3 ton of dry matter) on your clover plot, that would cost you less than .002 cents per head per day, which is next to nothing. If you put down the right amount and right blend of fertilizer and say you spend an extra $30 per acre per year that would result in .006 cents per head per day of extra expenses.
So, in summary, calcium is cheap. The right amount of fertilizers is really inexpensive compared to supplementation. We also haven’t explored how there is a difference in genetics for various forages you may plant and we will cover that next time.So, in closing, the point I want to hammer home to you all is that it all starts with the soil. The book that I wrote and will be releasing soon is called from Soil to Success. There is a huge reason why a nutritionist with 25 years of experience in the industry wrote a book with soil in the title.
Why Grandpa Ray Outdoors? Some food for thought.
