Source of minerals/vitamins for my hog operation

edited November 2009 in Buying Leads
Anybody want to help me with a decision. Its over my source of minerals/vitamins for my hog operation.

I have three choices. Which one is the best choice for a sustainable hog operation?
1. A local manufacturer of a national brand. Its all mixed locally. I would be supporting local
labor and a local feed mill. The catch: They are bringing a bunch of pigs in from NC. I'm not opposed
to the contract feeding from an environmental standpoint, but how much better for our local economy
would it be if these hogs were raised by local independant producers. They have the cheapest
feed and quickest service.
2. A local very small feed mill. The feed salesman goes to the same church. The catch: They are
a distributor of one of the largest feed companies. I'd tell you it is one of the "supermarkets of the worlds" brands but that could give away which feed company it is. They also are the most expensive.
3. A non local company. 200 miles away. A friend I went to college with sells for them or I wouldn't even know they existed. They only sell minerals/vitamins. No soybean meal. No complete feed. They aren't in the contract hog business. And I wouldn't be supporting a huge corporation.
Catch: I have to order vitamins and minerals 3 to 4 months at a time. They are cost competitive with the
local supplier.

Any sugestions on which way to go(or other options) would be appreciated. By the way, I try to get as many vitamins and minerals out of a high quality legume pasture system. I'm looking into processing my
families beans to eliminate all purchased feed except vitamins and minerals.
Best wishes,
Greg Gunthorp
pasture hog farmer
LaGrange, IN

Comments

  • edited November -1
    I'm by no means an expert in animal nutrition, but I would suggest that you check out "Fertrell's.com"
    as a source for your swine vitamins/minerals. I use there mineral/vitamin mixes in all of the different feeds that I make and my russian X hogs finish out at an average of 250# in 5 1/2 months. Additionally I happen to be up here in Alaska, so your cost for fertrell's would be considerably cheaper.

    Good luck and I hope that this might help out and that you find what you are looking for.
  • edited November -1
    An excellent source for naturally chelated trace minerals would be our mine. chelatedtraceminerals .com and montmorillonite .biz contact JOE COLLET 435-313-2411. It will help yours hogs significantly in overall health and heathly weight gain for market. Check out the sites for more info. We also sell in bulk
Sign In or Register to comment.