We find ourselves in a very challenging farming environment. Our farmers are making significant strategic decisions every day to manage animal production and cash flow.
If you are changing your fertiliser application schedule in light of increased prices (not putting on maintenance, reducing the area covered, etc), I urge you to consider how your stock will receive their selenium this season.
We have seen in the past when selenium prills are missed - even for just one year - that the stock have become deficient.
Selenium is essential for the general health of our stock. Low selenium will impact their ability to manage a parasite burden, resist diseases of the eyes, feet and gut, and can also cause poor reproductive performance. Low scanning is a very likely event with selenium deficiency.
You can prevent this by getting your ewes tested for selenium. We only need to test five animals and it can be done on-farm, or you can bring them to the clinic. We can also test your cows at weaning/scanning and deer at any time. Results are back within 3-4 days.
If you are an Ovimax client, your ewes will be sorted, if you’re on Ovigold, you will get at 10% discount on the lab fee (and 5% discount on any supplements purchased).
Selenium supplementation
There are many selenium supplementation options:
Long-acting injection (Selovin LA) - we have seen a number of farmers go to this option in the past few years when prills have not provided sufficient levels;
Combination injections - selenium can come in combination with B12, iodine and some vaccines.
Oral health supplements - selenium is found in many oral health supplements you may be using, but often only in small amounts. These may not be sufficient on their own.
Selenium-deficient stock will cost you a huge amount in lost production. We are very happy to discuss your stock selenium requirements with you at any time.
- Donna Hamilton, BVSc
