Mainland Minerals a bit of history

Mainland Minerals History

In the late 1940’s a man by the name of Brown Trotter bucked the trend, and turned the fertiliser industry on its head. Running a 200ha sheep operation in Fairlie, he was able to transform an underperforming farm and produce the healthiest, and heaviest stock in the region.

Coincidently, along side this Fergus Hickey, animal nutritionist for Wonder Distributors (est. 1938 which later became Mainland Minerals) had been researching and finding similar           conclusions. In particular, that a high amount of animal ailments seemed to be due to indiscriminate use of phosphate topdressing.  

In 1932 Mr Trotter began following common fertilising practises, top dressing with superphosphate and lime annually. By 1944 his stock were anything but wonderful with low weights, and ill thrift. After researching solutions and years of trial and error Mr Trotter started top dressing his pastures with trace minerals. Soon he had the best Lamb weights in the region, and had friends and neighbours following suit.

Although he was mocked and ridiculed in the press and by professionals that didn’t see eye to eye, he pushed forward ignoring the negativity and the “science” at the time, in favour of the results that couldn’t be argued with.

The focus at Mainland Minerals is to use trace minerals to benefit stock health and help finish stock faster at better weights. They also include the right amount of major nutrients to ensure any limitations are covered, and use sustainable products to help maintain farms for the generations to come.

Fine Lime and EM (effective microbes) stimulate soil biological activity, healthier soil is able to make nutrient more plant available and reduce nutrient losses.

If you’re keen to find out what Mainland Minerals can do for you, don’t talk to John down the road, give them a call, and get it from the horses mouth!