Research Finds Adding Selenium to Alfalfa Boosts Calf Growth, Immunity

A study by Oregon State University researchers has found that adding selenium to fields planted with alfalfa will allow the perennial forage crop to "take up" the important mineral in its tissues, providing better feed for calves and other livestock. Many areas throughout the Pacific Northwest is deficit in the mineral selenium.

OSU professor of Veterinary Medicine Dr. Jean Hall says that the findings are important because selenium delivered through plants in an organic form greatly lessens the threat of toxicity compared to directly feeding selenium in an organic form, such as salt.

Hall: "We think that using fertilization or using selenium mixed with other fertilizers and applying it to the pastures with is the most economical and best way to get it to the animals in an amount that is adequate for them to have these benefits of increased growth production and hopefully even increased immune responses."

Dr. Hall describes the results of their research which consisted of adding selenium with the fertilizer on three separate alfalfa fields with varying amounts of selenium.

Hall: "What we saw was that the ones that had the highest level of selenium that was applied to that pasture and was taken up by the plant those calves actually did well. They had a higher body weight at the end of the seven week period. We did some preliminary immune studies where we looked at their response to a vaccination and they had the highest anti-body tiders."