Agronomy Advice

What about selenium?

By: Jez Wardman

Selenium is an essential nutrient for animal health but not for crops, yet applying selenium to grassland via fortified fertilisers raises the selenium levels in forage and avoids all the costs of unhealthy livestock.


What about selenium?
What about selenium?
Healthier livestock means improved performance

Is your grass supplying enough selenium ?

Selenium is an essential trace element for all animals and humans.

Selenium deficiency occurs at herbage concentrations below 0.1 mg/kg DM and results indicate that up to 8-% of herbage samples are deficient.

Deficiency in livestock causes still birth and retention of afterbirth in livestock, increased milk cell count and increased levels of clinical mastitis.

In calves, deficiency is associated with “white muscle disease” (nutritional myopathies).

In lambs and calves under six months, local myopathies may involve skeletal or cardiac muscle.

Increased selenium in blood of sheep resulted in a significant increase in live weight gain and wool production.

Have you considered enriching your grass with selenium containing fertiliser ?

Applying selenium in grassland fertiliser increases selenium uptake by the grass and therefore increases the availability of selenium to animals.

Trials have shown selenium fertiliser applied in a single application in April resulted in a significant increase in selenium concentration in grass/silage with subsequent increased blood levels for the duration of the season. There was some fall off in herbage concentration over the season indicating the wisdom of repeated applications of selenium with a fertiliser from the Booster Range.

In mildly selenium deficient soils, repeated applications will lead to an improvement in the general overall health and well-being of the animal.

Make every bite count and see the benefits in your herds health

  • Increased herd health
  • Reduced cost of mastitis
  • Increased herd fertility

More about selenium fertilisers and animal health

What do other farmers say about booster fertilisers

See what some UK and Irish farmers have to say about Yara's booster fertilisers

Recommended grassland fertilisers containing selenium

The following 'Booster' fertilisers all contain sodium selenate as a source of selenium for increased animal health while at the same time supplying nitrogen, phosphate, potash and sulphur in various combinations and ratios, suitable for different grassland applications.

Latest advice background
Latest advice background
Grow the future | Grassland Sulphur Grow the future | Grassland Sulphur

Spreading nitrogen and sulphur at the same time means more grass

Applying fertilisers containing nitrogen and sulphur means the grass uses nitrogen more effectively, you get more kgs of dry matter per kg of nitrogen that you apply

Find out more