The tool has several integrated functions. In summary, it:

• Is a feeder for salt, mineral, and ionophore feeds;
• Prevents or limits populations of flies, grubs, lice and ticks, and by doing so, helps restrict some diseases transmitted by these parasites;
• Facilitates direct grazing cattle management;
• Facilitates manipulation of cattle on paddocks and so aids in pasture management;
• Provides livestock managers an easier, low cost, more grazier-friendly choice in the overall scheme of management for all of the above.

Figure 1. A stocker calf using the cattle rub independent of the salt/mineral supply of the tool.

Figure 2. Stocker cattle congregating out in a paddock near the tool and away from the water source and trees.

Figure 3. Beef cows trailing the tool as they are being rotated in a lane way to a distant paddock, the next to be grazed.

Figure 4. The cow-calf herd gathered at the tool (left arrow) parked by a one-wire raised electric fence creep grazing access. Note calves passing under the electric wire raised on the tall post (right arrow) to better grass in the next paddock.

The feeder portion of the tool provides feeding edge space and storage volume for salt, mineral, and ionophore supplements. This also serves as an attractant or bait to cause cattle to frequent the tool location. Once there, the cattle learn to use the cattle rub. Once they have learned how to use the tool, they frequently use the rub without feeding (Figure 1). They apparently do so to seek relief from the discomfort of the parasites. The feeder portion is not intended to be a feeder for larger volumes of supplemental feeds.

The cattle rub tool, impregnated with an appropriate diluted insecticide, helps prevent face, heel and horn flies. The cattle rub controls flies and it limits grub population buildup by preventing flies that cause grubs. It controls some grubs after an infestation if the correct insecticide is used. It prevents some ticks and helps control fly transmitted diseases by controlling flies.

Cattle get insecticide on themselves by rubbing on the cattle rub. They then touch or rub on each other and spread the insecticide even more. Some cattle may not get a good dose of insecticide, but still have a low fly population because of association with other animals in the herd that have used the rub.

The tool provides some control, though little, of horse, deer and other biting flies. However, there is a commercial flytrap for biting flies. It is the ETTS Biting Fly Trap from Farnam (Anon. 2001b). Its use may result in control of biting flies in small or limited areas.

The tool aids in management and manipulation of grazing cattle by serving as an attractant. With the tool properly placed, cattle will stay on the pasture or in the paddock as opposed to frequenting water points, shade, corrals, lanes and other areas important to the manager. It also periodically groups the herd within a paddock, thus aiding herd monitoring (Figure 2). Cattle quickly learn that when the tool is being moved, they get to go to a new paddock or other area. They trail the tool as if it were a lead animal (Figure 3) aiding the grazier with herd rotations.

The tool aids in pasture management by attracting the herd to almost any area within a paddock that the herd does not frequent as often as the manager desires. It attracts the cow and calf unit to creep grazing accesses in paddock fences or portable creep feeder locations using grain-based feeds (Figure 4). It can be used to help scatter cattle impact over a paddock by changing the tool location from time to time during any given grazing cycle or between grazings. The relative success of the tool appears to be somewhat related to paddock size, i.e., the smaller the paddock and the higher the stock density, the easier cattle access the tool, and the more useful the tool may be for all stated purposes. This is a very variable function.

The tool has many advantages from a "people" perspective. It is a very grazier-friendly (low stress) way to accomplish the specific livestock and related forage management jobs it does. It is among the easiest methods to use for external parasite control and salt/mineral feeding. Everything the tool can do is done without ever purposely gathering, herding, lotting, processing and stressing cattle through a corral or head gate facility. In some cases, this eliminates several cattle gatherings in a season or year.