Vitamins for Cows?

When our kids were young we visited a dairy farm as part of a farm bureau day. As we watched, the farmer shoveled piles of grain (probably all corn) in front of cows whose heads poked through a kind of fence. Then he piled some white powder on top of the grain. Joel asked about the powder and the farmer explained that it was a mixture of 43 vitamins and minerals that the cows needed in order to produce milk. Seemed reasonable until someone asked why they needed more vitamins and minerals. The “official” answer was a short, mumbled response. Then, we moved on to the next display or demonstration. Here’s a link to a more detailed story about this incident. http://www.thecompounder.com/your-health/detox

Sidebar: Grains (corn in particular) are not the normal diet for cows. They eat grass and the shift to cheaper grain is also part of the reason they need to add vitamins and minerals.

Over the years I've often contemplated that exchange and I came to a simple conclusion. The grain did not provide all of the nutrients the cows needed to make milk. It had been removed from the land over the years, probably by inappropriate planting and fertilization. This was in a time when it had become rare for farms to actually rotate crops, which helped return nutrients that had been depleted by previous crops. But, what about the fertilizers the farmers applied? They are basically combinations of nitrogen and phosphate and zinc. Those additions made the corn grow but do nothing to make it as nutritious as possible - no magnesium, manganese, selenium, copper, iron, and so on. Minerals normally found in soil, once lost, were not replaced. The grain from those fields was deficient and not enough to allow the cows to make milk. That’s why the farmers had to shovel on a pile of white powder.

Do the dairy products you use come from cows who are fed corn and other grains? Ask if you don't know.