Trace minerals are required by animals in small amounts - usually only milligrams per day. Common examples are zinc, copper, cobalt, iodine, selenium and manganese. In comparison, macro minerals are required in larger amounts - usually grams per day. Typical macro minerals include calcium, phosphorous, magnesium and potassium.

There are two basic categories of trace minerals: performance minerals and ordinary minerals. To determine if a trace mineral is a performance mineral, there are five essential criteria that must be met: return, response, repeatability, research and reassurance.

Criteria for these minerals are:

• Do not meet the five essential performance mineral criteria.
• Provide basic trace mineral nutrition to prevent deficiency and maintain normal life and growth functions of animals.
• Have no research to prove performance responses above and beyond typical sulfate mineral sources.

In addition, some of these minerals have different product characteristics such as particle size, solubility, dustiness, palatability and different biological efficacy values.

In recent years, the confusion level about mineral efficacy has increased dramatically. The performance minerals' categorization is designed to help the animal feed industry evaluate trace minerals based on legitimate performance criteria and dismiss unsubstantiated, outrageous claims.

Nutritionists and producers can use the essential performance mineral criteria to evaluate mineral sources. If a supplier represents their products as "performance minerals", ask them to verify how they meet all five criteria. Then you will know.

Copper sulfate and zinc oxide, when fed at specific growth promotant levels for swine (and some poultry), may meet these standards. This also assumes that the supplier of these trace minerals meets all five essential performance criteria.

Zinpro productsare the only trace mineral products on the market with the highest biological efficacy, making them performance minerals by nature. Zinpro's products and manufacturing processes are patented and meet the five essential performance mineral criteria (5-Rs). As a result, there is a huge difference between Zinpro Performance Minerals® and ordinary trace minerals.

Bioavailability Biological efficacy is a relative value placed on the ability of a mineral to be absorbed and metabolized. However, bioavailability biological efficacy alone is not enough to be considered a performance mineral. All minerals are bioavailable to a certain extent, although true animal performance cannot be extrapolated based on bioavailability data alone. Also, it is not scientifically acceptable to compare bioavailability values between different studies.

No. Simply increasing levels of sulfates, oxides or any other basic minerals does not guarantee the same level of animal response as seen with Zinpro Performance Minerals^®. In fact, by feeding elevated levels of a standard mineral, animal performance will most likely decline rather than increase. This is primarily due to the animal's nutritional requirements for a balanced diet and specific ratios between trace minerals.

The price of any trace mineral should be correlated directly to the nutritional value that mineral brings to the animal feed operation. Zinpro products are engineered to produce animal performance benefits that translate into improved profitability (ROI) substantiated by industry-leading research.

No. AAFCO definitions have limited usefulness for nutritionists and producers in making animal performance decisions. AAFCO only provides a molecular description of various terminologies. The various organic trace mineral technologies described by AAFCO have two things in common:

• A carbon atom in their molecular structure, derived from protein, amino acid(s) or carbohydrates.
• A more expensive cost structure than inorganic trace minerals.

To a biochemist, there's a huge difference. But to a nutritionist or livestock producer the only true value is animal performance and return on investment. And these two criteria are only achieved by quality research that supports the specific product. That's where Zinpro Performance Minerals^® stand apart from all other mineral sources.