Get wise with Vitalise® The smarter way to healthier cows ëƟ · ÍĖıƋ To discover the optimum way of getting calcium and magnesium into your cows visit cplimesolutions.net.nz or call us on 0508 678 464 Maintaining cow health Managing a dairy farm near Taupo provided Alexandra Lond, from CP Lime Solutions, with the ideal experience to appreciate just how important maintaining cow health was, not only to the bottom line for the farming business, but just as importantly to animal welfare and ability to perform. She’s passionate about the dairy sector and when the opportunity came up to work for South Island based CP Lime Solutions, as a eld rep, speci cally focussed on their dairy mineral supplement product Vitalise, she jumped at the chance. The Kiwi run company have been producing custom blends for farmers for over 10 years now. “I loved the family culture and way of working. It’s not a big corporate. Everyone from the producers, through to those on the eld and the Directors, all believe in creating the very best nutritional blends as possible. We stand by everything we manufacture.” She works alongside Simon Inkersell, based in Oamaru, and Sarah Morgan, in Oxford and together the three take care of animal nutrition and fertiliser for clients throughout New Zealand. Vitalise is a pelletised product, a mix of different trace elements and minerals available in both standard blends and options that can be made to order to suit each individual farmers animals’ needs. Delivering just the right measures of calcium and magnesium in the most digestible form, means that farmers know their cows are receiving a bespoke dose to meet each cow’s individual needs. “The majority of our pelletised minerals go through in-shed feeding systems. We are not nutritionalists as such but create custom blends with input from vets and the like who assist farmers to understand what their herd most needs,” Alex explains. When she visits farms, a part of the job she thrives on, Alex looks at the broader picture. It is important to ask questions such as what they are currently feeding, to identify de ciencies that come with some feeds such as brassicas. There are many factors, Alex explains, that can contribute to mineral de cits, and it is important to counteract them with accurate, ef cient mineral supplements. “We like to work with the preventative side of animal health because often a cow will be de cient long before you can physically see it. Cows are incredibly good at hiding ailments, and often by the time they are visible, the damage is already done. We promote the bene ts of providing a small amount of Vitalise all year round so that cows remain in peak condition through all the seasons.” She is the rst to acknowledge just how smart cows are about what they need to remain healthy, but unfortunately they can’t always tell us what that is. One of the bene ts of the company is its ability to work with merchants, nutritionists and vets, to ensure the most ef cient blends for farmers are created. “I had a farmer whose cows weren’t eating a product from another company and after some investigation and discussion we realised that they had been over-feeding salt. Every herd is different, that’s why our ability to create so many different custom blends is so crucial to both our business and our farmers.” Vitalise is mainly supplied through a special mineral dispenser and the adage that ‘less is more’ is very much how the company approaches advising farmers. The mineral dispenser also means that the quantity of Vitalise can easily be adjusted to suit different times of the year. “Absolutely increasing minerals quantities over calving is important, but rather than completely cutting it out for the second half of the year we advocate a small amount fed consistently each day. Cows are able to store calcium if they don’t need it at the time, and this ensures optimum cow health all year round.” Having the majority of her farmer clients come by way of referral is especially gratifying; testament, Alex feels, to the ef cacy of Vitalise as a product and the results it produces. There’s plenty of great information about Vitalise and all CP Lime Solutions products on their website www.cplimesolutions.co.nz C P Lime – Vitalise Ph: 027 322 4450 Email: alex.lond@optimise.net.nz
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