I'm off to pick up my hopefully settled does. A lot of people in selenium deficient areas give a selenium supplement to their pregnant does. Anyone know about the selenium levels in our soil here in the low Sonoran desert?
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Here's basic info on Se in plants and soil, which may assist you in understand your animal nutritional requirements:
Selenium is an essential plant nutrient. High summer temperatures are amenable to increased Se concentration in forages. Plant species differ in Se uptake; grasses and grain crops absorb low to moderate amounts of Se.
Areas of high Se soils in western North America and in other semiarid regions can produce vegetation toxic to livestock. High pH, calcareous soils in arid regions (< 20 in. precipitation) are usually high in Se. Note: soils are very rarely tested for available Se in AZ, so to provide a range of available Se in our soils is not possible. The selenates, SeO42-, are water soluble in soil and are frequently associated with SO42- in our arid region. Since selenates are highly soluble, they are readily available to plants and can be responsible for toxic accumulations in plants grown on high pH soils.
So, with this in mind, if you feed with local grown forages, Se will more than likely be adequate in the food supply.
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Selenium is an essential plant nutrient. High summer temperatures are amenable to increased Se concentration in forages. Plant species differ in Se uptake; grasses and grain crops absorb low to moderate amounts of Se.
Areas of high Se soils in western North America and in other semiarid regions can produce vegetation toxic to livestock. High pH, calcareous soils in arid regions (< 20 in. precipitation) are usually high in Se. Note: soils are very rarely tested for available Se in AZ, so to provide a range of available Se in our soils is not possible. The selenates, SeO42-, are water soluble in soil and are frequently associated with SO42- in our arid region. Since selenates are highly soluble, they are readily available to plants and can be responsible for toxic accumulations in plants grown on high pH soils.
So, with this in mind, if you feed with local grown forages, Se will more than likely be adequate in the food supply.