Experience shows that most farmers supplement their animals with various major and trace elements through many mechanisms. These supplements help replace elements that may be lacking in pasture so to get the best health and growth rates when the animals are in deficit.

Defining the deficits has been achieved through various means, such as blood tests, liver biopsy and herbage analysis.  All of these tests have value, yet the herbage test probably has the most in the sense that the animal is the result of whatever it is eating.  Deficit in the feed, results in deficit in the animal.  All farmers understand the effect of some of these deficiencies, such as grass staggers due to lack of magnesium, although what has not been explained well enough is what makes these problems worse, such as an excess of potassium.

To combat these problems, an understanding of mineral ratios and the effect on animal nutrition is very important.  You will see most maize silage crops supplemented with different minerals to make up for the deficits in the product, such as fine lime and salt.

Common practice in countries that house their animals for winter is to test all the feeds, calculate any deficit and add the missing ingredients.  Here in New Zealand this is a little different, as to test each paddock before we put the stock in and calculate the deficiency and make up a mineral supplement is near on impossible and very costly.

There is a lot of common ground though on most farms in New Zealand through the winter periods where it is most important to get the mineral balance correct for optimum health for the upcoming new born whether, lambs or calves.  Usually we have a deficit of calcium, magnesium, sodium and an excess of potassium.  Other factors that have not been taken into account are products such as silica, which is essential in nerve and bone construction, and the effect of all the minor trace elements that are found in the sea.

These are the building blocks of our ongoing production and our animals need the best mineral nutrition to achieve the best result possible under the circumstances.  Coverage of such a wide variety of minerals in one hit may seem a haphazard approach, however experience tells us that there are general trends in pasture composition over the winter and early spring period with predictable results.

Our Product

With this in mind Stoclik has been produced which is a combination of Dolomite (Calcium & Magnesium) Redmond Salt (Sodium and over 50 other elements), Amorphous Silica, and Kelp Meal. 

This certainly can’t be taken as the be all and end all of mineral supplements as there will still be problems such as copper deficiency, which will have to be looked at on a farm by farm basis.  Its main purpose is to cover as many bases as possible in one easy to use mix.

Farmers put the product in a container in the paddock with the stock.  The stock will take what they require under their own steam. Certainly, when you start on Stoclik it is quite common for animals to gorge themselves, as they strive to balance their systems easing to lower intake as they do.  In this way the animals get to regulate their own requirements, which vary throughout the season.  Of course, if you improve your soil fertility and improve your pasture balance, ongoing requirements will be less.