The problem- Mineral supplementation is an important nutritional management practice for Kentucky's beef producers, as beef cattle in KY are susceptible to multiple trace mineral deficiencies and in some cases toxicities. However, there is a large deal of misinformation regarding the potential benefits or limitations to mineral supplementation. Advertisements and on-line claims can make it challenging for producers to select the correct mineral for their herd without overpaying for ingredients or brand names that may provide very little benefit to their herd. At the same time, questions about mineral selection continues to be a question I receive from agriculture agents as well. A lot of information is included on mineral tags and it can be difficult to decipher what all of the numbers and words actually mean.

The educational program response- The purpose of this webinar was twofold 1) Help producers understand the research that goes into developing the UK Beef IRM Mineral spec sheet, including sharing research results from the on-going long-term Selenium supplementation research headed by Drs. Matthews and Bridges in the department of Animal and Food Sciences, and 2) Provide producers with information about how to select a mineral and key words or numbers to look for on the tag to make the process more simplified and less overwhelming. 

The participants/target audience- The audience for this program were producers from across the state in an on-line webinar.

Other partners (if applicable)

Program impact or participant response. Participants in the webinar were asked to complete a post-program survey. Of the participants that completed the survey (n = 23), 95% reported that they planned to implement management changes in their herd based on the information they received as part of the webinar. Most producers reported that they planned to pay closer attention to the information included on their mineral tag, shop around for the best mineral at the best value, and evaluate mineral intake within their herd to make sure cattle are consuming the correct mineral concentrations. The average economic impact of these changes was reported to be an increase of $15-20 dollars per head.