Salt and Trace Minerals newsletter

Larry L. Berger, Ph.D.

Salt Institute

Salt and Trace Minerals newsletter

Spring 2005 (Vol. 37, No. 1)

Sheep and goats have different tolerances for copper and molybdenum. Trace mineral requirements for sheep are well-studied; less so for goats. This review considers both nutrients for both species.

Larry L. Berger, Ph.D.

Salt Institute

Salt and Trace Minerals newsletter

Winter 2005 (Vol. 36, No. 4)

Maintaining healthy animals is a key to success in the livestock and poultry business, not the least of which is avoiding costly outlays for medicine. For beef cattle, this has led to an increasing emphasis on preconditioning feeder cattle to reduce health problems. Trace mineral nutrition has a major impact on immune function and proper TM nutrition confers significant benefits in preconditioning programs by strengthening animals’ immune systems. Particularly important are zinc, copper, manganese, cobalt and selenium.

Larry L. Berger, Ph.D.

Salt Institute

Salt and Trace Minerals newsletter

Fall 2004 (Vol. 36, No. 3)

Non-recylable black plastic covers are often used to protect cylindrical bales of hay and silage. This article reports a five-year research effort at the University of Illinois to develop a

covering that exhibited six characteristics: 1) effective protection, 2) edible by livestock, 3) nutritious, 4) palatable, 5) cost effective, and 6) easy application. The solution: An edible covering of salt and other edible materials sprayed onto the bales with a cement pump. Its ability to resist moisture, in the current interim report, is 85% of the black plastic tarp.

Larry L. Berger, Ph.D.

Salt Institute

Salt and Trace Minerals newsletter

Summer 2004 (Vol. 36, No. 2)

Reproductive efficiency is a major key to profitable livestock enterprises, but only recently has the crucial role of trace minerals been understood. Implantation, conception, fetal development and delivery, all are benefited when an animal is mineral sufficient. Trace minerals aid fetal development and raise neonatal survival rates. Zinc, copper, iodine and selenium deserve special consideration.

Larry L. Berger, Ph.D.

Salt Institute

Salt and Trace Minerals newsletter

Fall 1997 (Vol. 29, No. 2)

Livestock and poultry producers need to consider not only the health and productivity of their animals, but potential environmental problems in disposing of animal wastes. Total quantities and concentrations in some situations can be challenging. But mineral supplementation and waste management strategies that support optimum animal performance while being environmentally friendly are not only possible, their achievement can be synergistic. Mineral deficient animals produce more waste because their digestive systems operate less efficiently. Misunderstandings on this issue occur when animal nutritionists and agronomists use the same term with different meanings. A nutritionist talking about the salt level in a diet is referring to the amount of sodium chloride added. An agronomist discussing the "salt content" of animal waste is referring to total salts, the sum of the soluble calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, chloride,

sulfate, nitrate and borate being discharged into the environment.

Larry L. Berger, Ph.D.

Salt Institute

Salt and Trace Minerals newsletter

Spring 1997 (Vol. 29, No. 1)

The vital role of sodium chloride in animal diets is taken for granted. Overlooked because it is so common and in comparison with the lesser-known benefits of the trace minerals for which it is the common carrier, salt is essential to animal health, growth, fertility and overall productivity.

Larry L. Berger, Ph.D.
Salt Institute
Salt and Trace Minerals newsletter
Spring 1996

Trace minerals are the key to strengthening animals’ immune systems. While trace minerals are fed primarily to encourage growth and reproductive response, evidence suggests that healthy animals facing an immunological challenge require additional amounts of trace minerals. The article discusses the role of copper, iron, selenium, chromium, cobalt and zinc as well as the role of salt as a carrier.

Larry L. Berger, Ph.D.

Salt Institute

Salt and Trace Minerals newsletter

Fall 1996 (Vol. 28, No. 2)

Selenium is recognized as an essential nutrient, but concerns about toxic excess consumption have dogged its history as a vital trace mineral. Deficiencies invite muscular dystrophy and jeopardize repair of cell membranes (in this it acts in partnership with vitamin E).

Larry L. Berger, Ph.D.

Salt Institute

Salt and Trace Minerals newsletter

Summer 1995 (Vol. 27, No. 1)

All animals, including humans, require sodium. Livestock and poultry producers would be wrong to economize by short-changing salt supplementation since sodium deficiency saps performance, retards growth, invites heat stress and undermines animals’ immune systems.

Larry L. Berger, Ph.D.

Salt Institute

Salt and Trace Minerals newsletter

Winter 1994/95 (Vol. 26, No. 2)

Variation in the nutrition profile of feedstuffs is an important consideration. Often unrecognized is that trace mineral variation is often far greater than variations in energy, protein or macrominerals. The article describes how and why trace minerals vary among common feedstuffs.