The Rural Voice, 1989-06, Page 33also be cost-effective. A tall order!
It is interesting to note that in some
countries problem pastures have
actually been sprayed successfully
with emulsified vegetable or mineral
oils. The long-term solution to the
problem of controlling bloat appears
to lie in selecting legume species and
cultivars of low bloating potential and
aminals with a low hereditary suscep-
tibility to the disease.
Mineral Imbalances
There are three types of situations
that can cause mineral imbalances:
1. where the animal's need for a
mineral is considerably greater than
the plant's requirement for normal
growth. This leads to a mineral
deficiency in the animal only (eg. Co,
Se, I, Na, CI, Fe, Zn),
2. where the soil is deficient in
minerals, but plant and animal have
roughly the same nutritional needs. In
this situation, both plant growth and
animal health suffer (eg. P, S),
3. where the plant accumulates a
certain mineral to the point where it
becomes toxic to the animal or inter-
feres with the use of other minerals
(eg. Se, Mo, Cu).
Because of the intensification of
grassland production (through more
fertilizer use and the selective use of
improved grass and legume cultivars),
the incidence of metabolic conditions
in pasture and forage -fed livestock has
unfortunately increased as well. To
complicate the situation, the symp-
toms of trace -mineral deficiencies in
animals are often difficult to diagnose
— they are often seen as vague
unthriftiness.
Grass tetany is the major pasture -
related metabolic condition in dairy
animals. It seems to be more common
in cows than dairy goats, perhaps
because most goats are still being kept
in small-scale situations where the use
of improved, heavily fertilized
pastures is less likely. In some years,
death losses in affected California
dairy (cow) herds have been as high as
20 per cent.
Also known as Irypomagnescmia,
this condition usually occurs in early
spring when the animals arc turned out
to lush grass or cereal pastures such as
winter wheat. Although the problem
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R.R. 3, Arthur, Ontario NOG 1A0
Shop Res.
519-848-3700 519-848-2884
J
JUNE 1989 31