Lip-Smacking Good

It is no longer politically-correct for restaurants to call their food, "Finger-licking good!" (Sorry KFC.) Honestly, when I did a Google search, I learned that the old KFC ad campaign was revised in 2011 - not as a response to Covid-19. That was when the fast food chain decided it was time the slogan kicked the proverbial red and white bucket. The phrase's greasy connotations didn't gel with a healthy makeover KFC was undergoing, and it was dumped for the virtuous “so good."

Bovines are unable to anatomically perform "finger-licking" anyway. So maybe Purina's Range Cattle Mineral is lip-smacking good - at least, if you ask the consumers on The County Line. 

 I went along for the ride as Randy made the latest to-go deliveries to the cows.

 He refilled mineral tubs at all the cattle's locations.

It doesn't look that appetizing to we mere humans. But, evidently, it's gourmet fare among the bovine set.

It didn't take long for the cattle to congregate at the refilled "salad bar."

Beef cattle require a number of minerals for optimal growth and reproduction. Just like some humans supplement their diets with additional vitamins and minerals, we offer a mix that includes calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium and several other additives.

At this point, our cows are still getting silage and hay for feed. Early next month, they'll be going to summer pastures. But until that time, we provide the additional nutrition that the bagged supplement can provide.

They could be the spokes-ladies for a Purina campaign.

Minerals are important building blocks of functional life. When the body in question is a 1,200-pound beef cow whose purpose is to produce income, she may need supplemental minerals during several crucial periods throughout the year. Proper mineral and vitamin nutrition contributes to strong immune systems, reproductive performance, and calf weight gain. Diets with mineral imbalances may cause poor animal performance, resulting in reduced profitability.

 Here are just some of the reasons we supplement with minerals:

• Calcium and phosphorus are the major mineral components of the skeleton. Long-term deficiencies of either can cause bones to weaken and even break. In addition, a decrease in one or both can reduce the amount of milk produced by a lactating mother. A phosphorus deficiency can delay puberty in heifers and can delay mature beef cows from returning to heat. Cattle also need correct amounts of calcium for the nervous and muscular systems to function properly.
• Sodium and chlorine (salt) provide for the proper function of the nervous and muscular systems. They help regulate body pH and the amount of water retained in the body.  
• Magnesium is essential for proper enzyme and nervous system function and for efficient carbohydrate metabolism. A magnesium deficiency is uncommon except for cows grazing lush-growth fescue or small grain pastures during the late winter and early spring, which may cause grass tetany, a serious and sometimes fatal metabolic disorder. 
• Beef cattle require 10 microminerals. Seven of the 10 have established requirements, including iron, manganese, copper, zinc, selenium, cobalt and iodine. 

We also provide salt blocks in the cattle lots.

I may have clicked the camera shutter "a few times" trying to capture the action that signifies its lip-smacking good. (Mental note: Add this to my "things I did during a pandemic" list.)

Randy patiently waited. But he also said he was glad I was using digital photography and not film. He couldn't afford me.