Black and white Border Collie dog with tongue out in a grassy field.

Downland at McCaskie

McCaskie Ltd is proud to be a founding franchisee member of Downland, a leading supplier of livestock nutritional solutions, having joined in 1979. With over four decades of collaboration, McCaskie has brought Downland’s innovative, research-backed products directly to our agricultural clients, ensuring premium quality and performance for optimal animal health and productivity.

Downland’s comprehensive range includes everything from nutritional supplements and mineral blocks to specially formulated feeds designed to meet the unique needs of animals at every stage. Their products support livestock resilience and performance across varied farming conditions, offering targeted nutrition for cattle, sheep, and equine, along with options for improving animal health and welfare.

Downland’s mission aligns with McCaskie’s dedication to the highest standards of livestock management. By leveraging Downland’s resources, we continue to empower farmers with products that are not only scientifically developed but also practically effective. For more details on Downland products or to discuss your livestock’s specific needs, connect with our team at McCaskie.

A group of sheep grazing on grass in a field, with some eating from a red container labeled Opti-Lix. There are trees in the background under a partly cloudy sky.

Key offerings from Downland available through McCaskie include:

Opti-Mol Range: High-quality mineral supplements tailored for livestock to support overall health, fertility, and productivity.
Dry Guard: A newly launched hygiene powder developed for enhancing animal welfare in housing environments, focusing on moisture and bacteria control.
Energy and Protein Products: Formulations like Boost buckets, designed to supplement energy and protein for livestock, particularly beneficial during critical periods.
Specialised Calf Feeds: Nutrient-rich feeds for optimal growth and development in young cattle.

In summary, while all these ranges aim to support livestock nutrition, Opti-Blox focuses on high-energy and protein supplementation, Opti-Balance addresses mineral and vitamin deficiencies, Opti-Lix offers a convenient energy-protein-mineral mix, and Opti-Mol specifically targets trace element supplementation.

Product Range Explained

Two brown cows standing on green grass in a pasture with trees in the background.

Downland’s product ranges—Opti-Blox, Opti-Balance, Opti-Lix, and Opti-Mol—serve different nutritional and supplementation needs for livestock. Here's a breakdown of the differences in these core ranges:

1. Opti-Blox

Form: High-energy and high-protein blocks.
Purpose: These are designed to supplement grazing livestock with additional nutrients. They are particularly useful for times of limited pasture quality or in high-demand situations such as pregnancy or lactation.
Application: Typically used to support sheep and cattle in extensive grazing systems.
Key Focus: Energy and protein boost for ruminants, especially when forage quality is poor.

2. Opti-Balance

Form: Complete mineral and vitamin supplement.
Purpose: This range focuses on balancing the dietary needs of livestock by providing essential vitamins and minerals that may be missing from their diet.
Application: Ideal for livestock being fed on diets that might be deficient in key nutrients, particularly when they are on a mixed or grain-heavy feed.
Key Focus: Correcting mineral deficiencies and supporting overall animal health and productivity.

3. Opti-Lix

Form: Molasses-based lick buckets.
Purpose: These provide an easily accessible source of energy, protein, and minerals. They are particularly useful for livestock on pasture as they encourage self-feeding and help supplement low-quality forage.
Application: Used for sheep and cattle, typically in both indoor and outdoor systems. Suitable for providing a steady intake of key nutrients.
Key Focus: Convenience in supplementation, providing a combination of energy, protein, and minerals.

4. Opti-Mol

Form: A molasses-based supplement range with specific focus on trace elements.
Purpose: Opti-Mol products are designed to improve livestock health through targeted trace element supplementation, addressing deficiencies that can impact animal performance and welfare.

Collection of OPTI-MOL livestock supplements in various colored containers, including molassed supplement, mag extra plus, dry cow, breeding ewe, sheep natural energy, mini vi, buzz off, and mag extra, displayed against a blue background with a stylized cow illustration.

Optimise Livestock Health and Performance

Downland launched a new look and a new name for a range of molassed supplement buckets!

Our Opti-Mol range is specially formulated to match a wide range of on-farm feeding systems and are the perfect way of supplementing livestock whilst reducing labour demands.

Ideal supplementation for grazing cattle and sheep to help support target growth rates, health, fertility and aid in the prevention of animal health issues such as grass staggers, lameness and mastitis.

Formulated with high quality raw materials and using the most readily available sources of micro-nutrients.
Developed using the latest research to ensure that each bucket provides the recommended levels of minerals, trace elements and vitamins for optimal livestock health and performance.

Speaking with your Local McCaskie Sales Representative or in any of our Country Stores we will provide unbiased advice and personalised solutions to meet your individual farm needs.

Comparison chart explaining differences between feed buckets and mineral buckets for sheep. The feed bucket is a red container labeled 'Opti-MOL Sheep Natural Energy' and is used for poured or chemical set feeds, high energy, minerals, vitamins, trace elements, and additives. The mineral bucket is an orange container labeled 'Opti-MOL Min Vit' and is used for chemical set feeds, molasses, minerals, vitamins, trace elements, and additives. The low moisture bucket is a red container labeled 'Opti-Lix High Energy' for dehydrated molasses, protein sources, extra energy, minerals, vitamins, trace elements, and additives.

A 25 kg container of OPTI-MOL Molassed Supplement with a blue lid and colorful label, providing vitamins and minerals for livestock health.

Sheep GP

Mag Extra

Blue container of Opti-Mol Molassed Supplement with label detailing its purpose for providing vitamins and minerals for livestock, produced by Downland, with a silver lid.

Blue container of Opti-Mol molassed supplement for livestock with colorful abstract design and text highlighting its purpose and ingredients.

Cattle balancer

Cattle GP

A blue container of OPTI-MOL molassed supplement for livestock, label indicating it provides vitamins and minerals for livestock health, with weight of 25 kg.

Container of Opti-Mol molassed supplement, designed for livestock, with blue packaging and a red lid, featuring text about providing vitamins and minerals for livestock performance.

Cattle Extra

Cattle Mag

Blue container of OPTI-MOL molassed supplement, designed for livestock, featuring text about providing optimal vitamins and minerals to maximize performance, with symbols indicating suitability for 25 kg livestock and containing selenium and zinc, produced by Downland.

Blue container of Downland Opti-Mol Dry Cow supplement with white text and plastic lid.

Breathe Rite

Min Vit

Buzz off

Blue container of OPTI-MOL molassed supplement for livestock, with colorful abstract design and text indicating it is a vitamin and mineral supplement for livestock with a 25 kg weight.

Mag Extra Plus Copper

High Phos

Dry Cow

Suckler Extra

Supplement grazing ,

Feed intake

& Digestion

Two cows standing in a grassy field with five colored containers of animal feed in front of them, labeled for different cattle dietary needs.

A colorful infographic showcasing five types of livestock feed supplements in buckets: Opti-Lix High Energy, Cattle Magnesium, Sheep Mag, Cattle Balancer, and Pre-Calver. Each type has a distinct color and description of its benefits for livestock nutrition, with icons indicating weight options and livestock types.

Colorful packages of livestock mineral supplements labeled Cattle, Sheep, Special, and GP from Downland arranged on a green forested background with a dirt path. Text on the image promotes asking experts and starting a journey.

Opti-Balance

Form: Complete mineral and vitamin supplement.
Purpose: This range focuses on balancing the dietary needs of livestock by providing essential vitamins and minerals that may be missing from their diet.
Application: Ideal for livestock being fed on diets that might be deficient in key nutrients, particularly when they are on a mixed or grain-heavy feed.
Key Focus: Correcting mineral deficiencies and supporting overall animal health and productivity.

Speaking with your Local McCaskie Sales Representative or in any of our Country Stores we will provide unbiased advice and personalised solutions to meet your individual farm needs.

Lambing