Extension Column

Like all animals, beef cattle need an appropriate amount of minerals to allow for proper body function, lactation and growth. Grazing cattle intake most of their minerals through the forages they eat, but grass and forbs can provide different levels of minerals depending on their growth stage and the soil they grow in. Cattle too have differing levels of mineral requirements depending on their stage of production.

There are 17 minerals cattle require. They are divided into macrominerals: calcium (C), chlorine (Cl), magnesium (Mg), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), sodium (Na) and sulfur (S); and...