Insight: Some U.S. feedlots rue loss of ‘Vitamin Z’ Zilmax

By Lisa Baertlein and P.J. Huffstutter (Reuters) – After nearly a decade of relying on weight-gain feed additives as a lifeline to survival, some of the 75,000 U.S. cattle feedyards that dot rural America in places such as Texas and the Great Plains, suddenly must do without the leading product Zilmax – nicknamed "Vitamin Z." Merck & Co's announcement on Friday that it was suspending the sale of Zilmax in the United States and Canada surprised many cattle owners and feedlot operators, who say Zilmax and other beta-agonists have been a godsend for a struggling U.S. …