CALF_News_June_July_2019

19 CALF News • June | July 2019 • www.calfnews.net Can you guess which supplement they prefer? The research shows calves prefer supplements with IntelliBond ® trace minerals trace minerals www.micro.net (317) 486-5880 Smart minerals, smart nutrition... smart decision SULFATE FREE N o C o p p e r S u l f a t e • N o Z i n c S u l f a t e • N o M a n g a n e s e S u l f a t e • TraceMineral MADE IN USA Three studies confirmed it. When given a choice, beef calves are more than twice as likely to consume supplements with IntelliBond ® trace minerals compared to sulfate or organic sources of trace minerals. 1-3 Switch to IntelliBond trace minerals for better palatability, plus higher bioavailability, increased fiber digestibility, less leaching and less binding with antagonists. 1 Wiebusch, 2015. JAM. 2 Caramalac et al., 2017. J. Anim. Sci. 95:1739-1750. 3 Micronutrients trial #2017BC106USCZM. IntelliBond ® is a registered trademark of Micronutrients, a Nutreco company. © 2019 Micronutrients USA, LLC. All rights reserved. Check out the data and discover the benefits of a sulfate-free trace mineral program at micro.net/species/beef . try change over time, genetic diversity is a valuable, and for the [ sic ] matter, a necessary asset.” Environment is an inescapable fact for every one of us, and the domestication of cattle was accelerated by place and need. Beginning with the taming of the Aurochs 5,000-10,000 years ago, cattle underwent dramatic physical changes quickly, according to Ritchie’s Breeds of Beef and Multipurpose Cattle . Distinct breeds began to emerge in the late 1700s, tied to the industrialization of Europe. A sharply larger human popula- tion began to migrate from rural areas into towns as mechanization accelerated the growth of factories. “More than any other single factor, the need to feed the workers of the newly created mills and factories was responsible for the advent of modern breed and breeding practices,” he writes. Ritchie goes on to say that the Industrial Revolution spawned a cattle revolution. This means, realistically, we can look at today’s composite meat animals as a step in the necessary reshuffling of genetic material, shaping livestock to better fit our needs. We need only to remember not to lose any valuable genetic material along the way. British and Continental breeds A fellow named Robert Bakewell may be considered the Mendel of livestock. (Gregor Mendel was a monk in Austria who worked with peas to discover the laws of inheritance.) Bakewell’s principle, developed in the latter part of the 1700s, was “like begets like” and, as Mendel, he was criticized and ostracized for his work. Eventually, the Englishman was vindicated by his roaring success in the development of British breeds of beef cattle and sheep. Bakewell’s methods of locking in the desirable genes was so thorough that he changed the face of the livestock industry in England and Scot- land. He was considered strange, a rogue thinker, what we might call “one bubble off plumb.” He was, in fact, a genius. As the British refined breeding prac- tices, so did Continental Europe. The Netherlands, for example, gravitated toward dairy cattle. Much of the rest of Europe developed the heavy-boned “Continental” breeds that made their way to the United States in the 1970s and ‘80s. I can tell you from firsthand experience, it was an exciting time when the exotics arrived. Bos indicus Eared cattle vary greatly; they are as numerous in breed as the British and Continental types. Breaking genetically from colder-climate cattle before domes- tication began, the Bos indicus gravitated to the tropics and were grown, diversi- fied and developed into the cattle we use today in the southern United States. They are a valuable, stable part of our cattle industry. As we move forward with technolo- gies, production methods and new effi- ciencies, let’s not forget the painstaking labor that has gone into the genetics we have developed over the past several cen- turies. There’s a lot of good out there. 