New mineralised molasses block takes some licking

New mineralised molasses block takes some licking

Farmers are being introduced to Crystalyx, a new processed molasses block range, fortified with micro and macronutrients, from the United Kingdom.

Sold throughout UK, Europe and US, it is designed to balance pasture and improve utilisation and digestion in animals, thereby improving animal performance and health.

Fertiliser and animal nutrition specialist Summit-Quinphos has just completed a series of field days across New Zealand showing farmers how Crystalyx can add verifiable value to their operations.

The message was delivered by Jackie Aveling, Summit-Quinphos Nutritional Products Manager, backed by UK-based Dr Cliff Lister, the Technical Manager at Caltech-Crystalyx, and that company’s Managing Director Ian Dalton.

“We reformulated the product to balance the deficiencies in New Zealand pastoral systems based on our extensive herbage testing. There is a raft of scientific trial work on the effectiveness of the product from universities in the US, UK and Poland.

”We have also done numerous farm trials over the last year to test intakes and the suitability of using the product within our farming systems,” explains Mrs Aveling.

Dr Lister explained that Crystalyx works by activating the protozoa in the rumen, thereby stimulating intake and digestibility.

“Cows can then process more food, so they eat more, at the same time taking in essential nutrients from the Crystalyx block. It’s all down to the speed of fermentation,” he said.

“Our international university trials show that the rumen is more active when Crystalyx is part of the diet. It complements and balances forage for better digestion and animal performance.”

Mrs Aveling stressed that more research would be undertaken to mirror the international trials in New Zealand to demonstrate better conditioning, higher pregnancy rates and reduced risk of milk fever.

“Crystalyx is a molasses-based feed lick that is hard and waterproof, and the animals have to work at it to get their share.”

The key to the lick’s palatability is its dehydrated molasses base sourced from Florida and Cuba, which also includes vegetable oil, to which proteins, minerals, trace elements and vitamins are added to precise formulations.

Intakes are regulated, as the licking uses up the cow’s saliva, encouraging the cow to go and have a drink,” says Mrs Aveling. “They can’t bite or chew it, and they will then return to the block at will many times within a day to achieve the target intake.”

The full Crystalyx range covers most farm animals. Summit-Quinphos is concentrating first on dry cows and young stock, but there is excitement about its Biogro Certified Organyx range.

This product will provide the opportunity to cater for stock classes outside of dairy, including deer, milking goats, sheep and beef.

More follows…

It is offering 22.5kg and 40kg tubs of Crystalyx Booster for young stock and Crystalyx Dry Cow for dairy and beef pre-calvers.

One issue raised by farmers at the field days was the need to move the blocks from paddock to paddock for lactating herds. Dr Lister agreed that having so many paddocks per farm, and large mob sizes, was a variation from the UK farming system, and the solution would have to be a Kiwi one. This made starting with the Dry cow and young stock licks the most sensible option.

He also stressed that each herd would have dominant animals, and it would be necessary to provide adequate blocks in the paddock to ensure the desired intakes across the herd.

Mrs Aveling explained that the New Zealand trials included placing the Crystalyx blocks in milking sheds, at feed pads and in the paddocks.

The cows sought out the licks, she said, which highlighted another use for the blocks – encouraging stock to graze on less desirable pastures because the Crystalyx blocks were located there. In New Zealand this could have application for grasses such as Kikuyu and poorer quality pasture found on hills. Some South Island farmers already use salt licks to move stock.

Dr Lister added that this was common practice on the wide-open US prairies, where farmers routinely relocated herds simply by shifting the Crystalyx blocks. In the US, the product is sold as Smartlic.

He said grass and conserved winter forages can be very poor sources of minerals, trace elements and vitamins in general, and copper, zinc, selenium, iodine and cobalt in particular.

In addition, the continued improvements in grassland productivity through the increasing use of perennial ryegrasses and more intensive fertiliser practices have further depressed forage mineral levels.

“Research at Kansas State University and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne School of Agriculture has shown that the benefits from feeding Crystalyx equate to up to 30 percent additional digestible nutrients available to the animal.

“This results from improvements in both forage intakes and digestibility when Crystalyx is fed. Most importantly, the research at Newcastle University has shown that the poorer the quality of the forage the greater is the benefit from feeding Crystalyx.”

For the dry cow the source of available magnesium was quoted by University of Newcastle: ‘Crystalyx represents a high-quality magnesium source for ruminants, superior to even the best pure calcined magnesite evaluated at this research centre’.

“As milk fever is an issue here, ensuring adequate intakes of a highly available source of magnesium is critical,” says Mrs Aveling.

“Crystalyx is providing us that opportunity.”

ENDS

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