Health and nutrition work synergistically to help livestock reach their optimum performance. That’s why Kevin Hamlin, Big Spring, Texas, relies on the Amaferm® advantage found in the Gain Smart® line to provide his calves what they need year-round.
“It’s a 365-day a year job. They are living animals. You just can’t box them up and put ‘em in a cabinet and bring them back out next week. It’s every day all day, or it can be,” Hamlin said.
Hamlin’s great grandfather settled the land in the southwest corner of the Texas panhandle more than a century ago where he ran cows. Today, Hamlin runs predominately Angus-based stockers on the same land. He grazes them on wheat and native grass in West Texas and New Mexico.
He gets his calves in weighing 400-450 pounds and makes sure they are getting the most nutrients available to them by supplementing them with one of two Gain Smart® minerals, Gain Smart Wheat or Gain Smart Stocker, powered by Amaferm. Amaferm is a precision-based prebiotic that increases intake, digestibility and absorption of nutrients.
“If you get them started off on the right track, it helps keep them going where they can reach full potential. The cattle seem to do well, and they seem to keep grazing,” he said.
Hamlin appreciates the Amaferm advantage that his calves get and how they perform since they have been eating the Gain Smart mineral. In a semi-arid environment where annual rainfall measures 16-18 inches a year, grass isn’t always plentiful, so making sure the calves absorb the most nutrients from the forages available is of upmost importance.
“I’m not a nutritionist by training, but I think it’s something that is common sense. If you don’t get all your nutrients, you’re not going to perform, whether you’re talking people or animals,” Hamlin said, who earned his bachelor’s and a master’s degree in animal genetics from Texas Tech University.
You can learn more about Hamlin’s operation and the Gain Smart minerals he feeds on an upcoming American Rancher episode. Tune in to The American Rancher, 9 p.m., EDT, Monday, September 13 to see this Gain Smart feature on Dish Channel 231 or DirecTV Channel 345. If you miss this show, you can set your DVR or check the re-air on at 1 a.m., Tuesday, September 14 or Noon, Sunday, September 19. All times are Eastern.
