Cattleman focuses on solutions for epigenetic challenges

EFFINGHAM, Ill. — Improving soil by increasing the biology results in more minerals in the feed grown on that land and fewer supplements necessary for the cattle that eat the feed.

“When you feed dry minerals out of a mineral bag, the minerals are about 20% bioavailable,” said Steve Campbell, owner of Tailor Made Cattle.

“If you foliar feed minerals, 5 pounds of sea salt to the acre of pasture every 40 to 50 days during the growing season, those minerals are 90% bioavailable,” said Campbell during a presentation at the Heart of America Grazing Conference hosted by the Illinois Grazing Lands Coalition, the Illinois Forage and Grassland Council, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Resources Conservation Service and University of Illinois Extension.

“In 1995, the average beef cow in the U.S. digested 55% of what she ingested,” he noted. “Some cows digest 70% and that means some cows were at 45%.”

“The bigger the belly, the more of what she ingests, she digests,” he said. “The opposite is true if she has no gut, so that is the first cow I want to sell.”

There is a teeter-totter situation between growth and reproduction, said the cattleman, consultant and speaker.

“If you are just selling calves off the farm, 40% of the profit is fertility, 30% is what it costs to run that cow, 20% is growth and 10% is carcass traits,” said Campbell, who is also known as “The Cattle Coach.”

“But any one cow can make a liar out of you,” he added.

“Everybody here has better cattle than they are seeing because the epigenetics are not good enough,” he said. “The goal is to fully express the genetics you already own.”

The biggest mistake cattlemen make with rotational grazing is coming back to a paddock too quick, Campbell said.

“So, the grass doesn’t get fully recovered before the cattle graze it again,” he said.

When supplementing cattle, Campbell said, if they don’t consume it, it won’t work.

“You will have to buy some sort of enticer to get your cattle to eat detox clay,” he said.

“If your cows are fat, you are playing with fire to feed detox clay because it promotes growth,” he explained. “If your cows are skinny, keep feeding it. But if your cows are 5.5 or 6, don’t feed the conditioner the last month before calving or you will create large calves.”

Iodine, bromine, chlorine and fluorine are all from the halide group.

“Mammals that have enough iodine in their bodies will excrete the others,” Campbell said. “But if there is not enough iodine, our bodies will try to use one of the others and iodine prevents disease while the others cause disease.”

“Our blood and sea mineral water are exactly the same minerals, in exactly the same proportion except iron and magnesium are reversed,” he said.

“If we don’t have enough minerals coming into our system, the body will steal them wherever possible out of our body to keep the blood correct,” he noted.

One of the easiest things for cattlemen to do, Campbell said, is offer mineral water to their cattle.

“You must have a plastic water tank with a float,” he said. “Pay attention to the proportions — for 100 cows, you need a 300-gallon water tank and put 50 pounds of sea salt into feed sack.”

The bag with the sea salt should be placed as far away from where the water is coming into the tank as possible.

“Monday morning, I put my tea bag in, and Tuesday morning, I jerk it out,” Campbell said. “What I hope I have left in the bag is a fist amount of unused crystals of salt.”

“If one-third of the salt is left, then put in less. But if no salt is left, put in more the next time,” he said. “Tuesday is fresh water, Wednesday is mineral water and Thursday is fresh water.”

The amount of sea salt required will probably vary from pasture to pasture.

“If you don’t put enough sea salt in the first time, you didn’t get ocean water,” the rancher said. “You want to throw away some unused salt.”

Campbell likes to use sodium bentonite as a barometer.

“If they are eating one ounce or less, the cattle are telling you that what you are feeding is pretty good,” he explained. “If they go on a new pasture and the bicarb goes up to four or five ounces, there is a problem with the feed.”

“Only do the mineral water on the days you want your cattle to be healthy,” he said. “You are going to see an improvement in your cattle this year, but where you are really going to see improvement is in the offspring.”

When selecting cattle, Campbell looks for animals that have a Solo cup shape.

“Sex hormones shut off long bone growth, so estrogen shuts off growth in the front end of the cow first,” he said. “The cows that look like they are walking downhill on level ground are more fertile.”

For bulls, testosterone shuts off long bone growth in the back end of a bull first, Campbell said.

“The bulls that look like they are walking uphill on level ground are more fertile than bulls that are walking level,” he pointed out.

“If you find a bull at two years of age that is walking uphill, you have found a bull,” he said. “Usually, you will not see that until they are 3 years old or maybe older.”