Selenium deficiency biggest mineral problem in Ireland
Tomorrow, the European Paliament’s Petitions Committee will visit the farm.
Selenium is grossly deficient on cattle farms in Ireland, according to a programme of forage testing carried out by the Alltech biotechnology company.
Selenium deficient grasslands are a feature throughout the cool temperate parts of the world. “We have found selenium the biggest mineral problem in Ireland, although copper was the main scapegoat up to now,” said Kevin Tuck, the technical sales manager with Alltech Ireland in 2004, when test results were released.
Altech departed from the traditional research approach of post-mortem sampling of blood and livers in beef factories, collaborating instead with the cattle nutrition trade in nationwide testing of the grass and silage on which cattle largely depend for their nutrition.
Many of the country’s most progressive dairy farmers took part in the survey.
Figures were available for about 180 farms, and selenium deficiency stood out, said Mr Tuck. As expected, it was generally worst in areas of acidic soils and high rainfall. Of the 23 counties tested five herds in Kildare, Laois and Carlow were being fed material with more than the 0.1mg per kg level at which livestock deficiency problems could arise.
