What does it mean to give cattle salt?

Salt comes in 50 pound (20kg) blocks which can be left out in the field. The cattle will lick it if they want to. They like the taste and will wear it away with their tongues. Minerals are added to make sure they get those nutrients. read more

The cattle will lick it if they want to. They like the taste and will wear it away with their tongues. Minerals are added to make sure they get those nutrients. After the salt block is gone, they will lick the salty earth where the block was sitting and rain water washed some of the salt into the dirt. read more

Dairy cows get hit the hardest first with salt deficiency, and may collapse and die if they have been salt deficient for a long period of time. Other necessary minerals that cattle must have access to are: Potassium, Sulfur, Cobalt, Iodine, Molybdenum, Manganese, Zinc, Copper, and Iron. read more

Eating twice as much loose salt does not mean that cattle are overconsuming; rather, it means that cattle tongues are not optimized to lick efficiently to obtain the right level of nutrients, and that access to loose salt should be given to ensure the best chance of obtaining the right level of sodium. read more