What happened to the vitamin supply?

What happened to the vitamin supply?

Nutrition with John McKinnon

Many of you are likely aware that the feed industry is facing a critical shortage of vitamins A and E. This shortage is the result of a fire in October at a processing plant in Germany owned by BASF, one of the global leaders in the provision of vitamins for humans and livestock. The damaged […] Read more

Vitamin E and selenium — the odd couple!

Vitamin E and selenium — the odd couple!

Nutrition with John McKinnon

Mineral nutrition is a recurring theme in this column, attesting to the importance of this class of nutrients in the diets of cattle. I have not, however, paid as much attention to vitamins, which, when deficient, can be as limiting to performance and health as many minerals. With this article I would like to specifically […] Read more


Post-doctorate fellow, Katie Wood says the benefits to monensin held true at the 48 mg/kg rate.

The trials and troubles of feeding monensin to cattle

It works just as well at the new higher rate, just be sure you are feeding the correct rate

Now that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has raised the safe rate for monensin to 48 parts per million per kilogram of dry matter from 33 ppm, Dr. Katie Wood wanted to know if the proven benefits to feeding monensin still held true at this higher rate. Monensin is an ionophore that increases overall […] Read more

Vitamin E/selenium requirements an open book

Vet Advice

Although frank mineral deficiencies and toxicities have been described in detail, little quantitative information is available to describe mineral requirements of beef cattle for a given physiologic state or level of production. Most economic losses associated with mineral nutrition stem from less obvious circumstances like subclinical deficiencies. According to Dr. K. Olson at the department […] Read more