31 August 2012

2 minute read

North America

Jerry Hemsted, of the Gellatin Ranch, Redbluff, California, has been using Copasure for 12 years.

Jerry conducted a trial last year on 100 cattle, bolusing only 20 with Copasure. When he blood tested and weighed the cattle in the second and third month, the copper levels in the bolused cattle were all above the levels they needed to maintain good health and growth. The remaining cattle were all deficient in copper.

“We tested the cattle again when we sold them in the spring and the bolused animals still had a copper level that was sufficient whereas the other cattle were nearly void again," Jerry explained.

After the cattle were slaughtered their livers were tested and almost all the bolused cattle had healthy livers.

Jerry said his cattle outweigh his neighbours’ by 20-70lbs. “No matter what anyone says, in the cattle business you are selling weight. That’s what we get paid for and the more weight I can put on cattle the more money I receive," he said.

He boluses his cows when they return from the mountains in the fall. He first started using Copasure because calves were being born prematurely. “Copasure turned these cattle black again. Before that they were rusty coloured or red coloured and with the copper we have taken care of that problem," he said.

There have been very few abortions linked to copper deficiency. “We haven’t had what I would call ‘pinky’ calves, calves born without any hair," said Jerry.

He runs one cow and calf to seven acres on his better ground and the equivalent number on 12 acres of poorer land. He keeps 450 replacement heifers a year. After selection they are given Copasure and their vaccinations and bulls are turned in with them.

“It’s all natural breeding. We end up with about 88 per cent of them getting in calf when we check them in March,’’ said Jerry.

He said that if he was asked to give advice to a young person starting out in ranching he would assure them that Copasure was a “total necessity".