Animal Salt

Forage and grain are naturally low in sodium and chloride, and grazing animals cannot make up the difference from pasture. A deficiency shows first as reduced feed intake, then as poor growth, lower milk yield and pica — animals chewing soil, wood and each other's coats. Salt is the cheapest input on the farm and the one whose absence costs the most.

The two formats answer two different feeding systems. A pressed lick lets the animal self-regulate its own intake, which is what you want at pasture where consumption cannot be controlled. Loose granular salt mixed into a total mixed ration delivers a known dose to every animal, which is what you want in a pen where you are balancing the whole ration on paper.

Mineralised blocks carry iodine, cobalt, selenium, copper and zinc, and the formulation is set by your nutritionist rather than by us. Copper is the one to get right: sheep are far more sensitive to it than cattle, and a cattle block put out for a flock can accumulate to a fatal dose. We will make the block to your specification and label it accordingly, but the specification has to come from someone who knows the herd.

Feed grade is not food grade, and the difference runs both ways. The purity requirement is lower than for a food ingredient, but contaminant control and traceability still apply — this material is entering the human food chain one step removed, and it is stored and handled well away from the de-icing stockpile for exactly that reason.