7-22 IAN Selenium

 OSU study finds selenium added to alfalfa boosts calf growth, immunity. A new 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.

The findings are particularly important, researchers say, because selenium delivered through plants in an organic form is much safer than directly feeding selenium to calves in an inorganic form, such as salt. This according to Jean Hall, a professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine at OSU and lead researcher in the study.”When I say organic, I mean it is incorporated right into an amino acid so the selenium replaces a sulfur in methionine. It actually has selenium in that molecule instead of sulfur.

The researchers fed selenium-fortified alfalfa to calves and compared their growth to control animals. Several weeks later, the calves with supplemented diets had higher blood selenium content levels and the calves fed selenium-fortified alfalfa also weighed up to 10 percent more than calves fed alfalfa without selenium. Furthermore, weight growth by the calves increased with additional selenium