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Trace Elements
'You can trace every sickness, every disease and every ailment
to a mineral deficiency'
 Every cell of every living organism is dependant upon tiny quantities of trace minerals that go to make up soils. Of these, we now know that some are essential, some desirable and in some cases thay are interchangeable. But all have a role to play. The complex nature of how these elements act and interact with each other, means that to look at any one of them in isolation would be a mistake. It is also inefficient to think one can use intelligent guesswork to arbitrarily supplement drinking water or animal feeds with trace elements to counter deficiencies in the soil - except as a short term (and expensive) expedient. The only way to give Nature a helping hand is to restore the soil to its optimum efficiency by correcting the soil mineral balance. By so doing we allow plants and animals to acquire, for themselves, the ideal complex balance.This is essential if we are to promote top-quality crops and livestock with great benefit to ourselves at the top of the food chain. It is not an exaggeration to say that many of the ailments that plague man; cancer, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, etc are caused at least in part by deficient nutrition. Trace elements are as vital to every cell of our bodies as they are to the plants and animals - we are also animals after all and we forget this at our peril ! Think of the potential saving to the NHS if, by sensible eating, we could reduce the incidence of chronic diseases and the misery associated with them. Give a thought to how much could be saved by cutting fertiliser usage. This would in turn cut oil consumption (from which fertiliser is manufactured) and cut nitrate leaching which poisons our watercourses and kills the vital soil microbes. It might not please the large multinational corporations BUT it is sound sense. Field Sience state that restored soils only need about 50% of the previous fertiliser rates to achieve the same production levels! The importance of some of the trace elements that may need replenishing in your soils, along with the symptoms of deficiency are outlined below:
COPPER Cu (Target Level 10 - 12 ppm) Copper is a highly important trace element for arable and livestock farming. Indeed, it plays a vital role in the whole food chain. Copper deficiency has become a very serious problem in the UK for several reasons. There are large areas of land, particularly in Wales and the South West where, for geophysical reasons, Copper has never been plentiful and where the heavy use of agricultural chemicals in recent decades has greatly aggravated the problem. For the remainder, the same practices have reduced this once-plentiful trace element to borderline or deficiency status. Ruminants can only utilise Copper correctly in the presence of Selenium and 80% of UK soils are now Copper and Selenium deficient. Deficiency of Copper in soils leads to poor quality, disease-prone, low-yielding crops with low nutritional value to humans and livestock alike, after all we eat both the crops and the livestock. Good soil nutrition therefore leads ultimately to good human nutrition - if we cannot derive our trace elements from what we eat, then from where exactly do we expect to get them? Copper deficiency has become a very serious problem in the UK for several reasons. There are large areas of land, particularly in Wales and the South West where, for geophysical reasons, Copper has never been plentiful and where the heavy use of agricultural chemicals in recent decades has greatly aggravated the problem. For the remainder, the same practices have reduced this once-plentiful trace element to borderline or deficiency status. Ruminants can only utilise Copper correctly in the presence of Selenium and 80% of UK soils are now Copper and Selenium deficient. Deficiency of Copper in soils leads to poor quality, disease-prone, low-yielding crops with low nutritional value to humans and livestock alike, after all we eat both the crops and the livestock. Good soil nutrition therefore leads ultimately to good human nutrition - if we cannot derive our trace elements from what we eat, then from where exactly do we expect to get them ?  Copper Deficiency Symptoms in Livestock
Copper Deficiency Symptoms in Plants
If cereals and grasses have an un-natural, slight yellow look before they are 'greened-up' with fertiliser, then there is a very high chance that there is a Copper deficiency in the soil. Yield, disease-resistance and quality can all be greatly enhanced at very modest cost if this is the case. SELENIUM Se (Target Level 0.8 - 1.2 ppm) Selenium, although discovered in 1817, is now at last recognised to be of great importance to livestock and the human population. Not only is it essential to the immune system but also to fertility and the metabolism, as it acts as a catalyst and co-factor with other trace elements. Selenium is ultimately involved with Copper and Cobalt in the metabolisms of cattle, sheep and horses (it is equally important in its own right). For example, deficiencies of Copper and Zinc are often exacerbated by low Selenium levels. It is strongly suspected that Selenium is also essential to the soil and rumen microbes themselves.  Selenium is now deficient in 90% of UK soils. This has finally dawned on the fertiliser manufacturers, some of whom are starting to incorporate a little Selenium in compounds. However, the availability of Selenium is much reduced by heavy application of nitrate, sulphate and phosphate fertilisers, which act as antagonists. High Arsenic levels, often found in old mining areas, also suppress it Selenium Deficiency Symptoms in Livestock
COBALT Co (Target Level 1.8 - 3 ppm) Even the best grass pastures will fail to provide good nutrition to ruminants, especially sheep, on Cobalt-deficient ground. This is because without Cobalt the rumen microbes cannot synthesise Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin). Indeed, microbial synthesis appears to be the only significant source of Vitamin B12. Most important is that sheep cannot store Cobalt and therefore require a regular source in their diet - usually an expensive bolus supplement which is often found regurgitated around the pasture! By balancing the soil micronutrients, the sheep will receive the correct amount of Cobalt through the grass. Vitamin B12 is vital to the production of Glucose; without Glucose an animal literally starves to death. Cobalt also has other metabolic functions. Interestingly, pernicious anaemia in humans is caused by poor absorption of vitamin B12.  Vitamin B12 is essential not only for the synthesis of Glucose but is also connected with the formation and maintenance of the myelin sheaths (nerve cell protection). Due to nation-wide deficiencies of Cobalt, the only common direct sources of Vitamin B12 are animal based and therefore not available to humans maintaining a vegetarian diet. Vegetarians take Vitamin B12 supplements (usually tablets) to ensure that they achieve the RDA (recommended daily amount) of 1.0 µg. With correctly balanced soils, vegetables and crops will have the correct amount of Cobalt to ensure the synthesis of this vital Vitamin is possible without the need for supplements Cobalt Deficiency Symptoms in Livestock
IODINE I (Target Level 1.5 - 3 ppm) Iodine is vital to the soil microflorae, plants and animals. Its presence greatly affects the ability of soil bacteria to fix Nitrogen. Grass and crops grow considerably better in soils with adequate Iodine; this is probably due to the enhanced soil microbe activity. In the ruminant, Iodine plays a crucial role in the production of Thyroxine by the thyroid gland, which controls the entire metabolism. Goitre is the morbid enlargement of the thyroid gland caused by Iodine deficiency. It used to be common in the human population in parts of Britain, until the advent of iodised table salt (which, although it prevents this condition, does nothing to cure Iodine deficiency in the food chain). These days, people who work in higher than average levels of radiation, would be well advised to consume optimum levels of Iodine. This prevents the thyroid gland from absorbing radioactive particles Iodine is another trace element that is suppressed by the excessive use of nitrogen. It is also suppressed by high levels of Manganese. This is one reason why excessive Manganese should not be put into mineral supplements and concentrated feeds Iodine Deficiency Symptoms in Livestock
MANGANESE Mn (Target Level 150 - 250 ppm) One of the essential trace elements, Manganese plays a major role in the growth and development of plants. In the UK, it is usually deficient only in intensively farmed land and rarely in livestock. Manganese deficiency in livestock is not easy to detect in isolation but is often found simultaneously with Cobalt deficiency in the UK (see below). 60% of the soils tested in the UK in recent years were deficient in Manganese.  As a matter of interest, Manganese deficiency in humans is implicated in infertility, PMS, epilepsy, diabetes, osteoarthritis, bone-malformations and reduced HDL (beneficial cholesterol) Manganese Deficiency Symptoms in Livestock
Manganese Deficiency Symptoms in Plants
ZINC Zn (Target Level 10 - 15 ppm) Zinc is a very important micronutrient, which plays an important part in soil fertility. One role is in the creation of over 100 enzymes in plants and over 300 in livestock animals and humans. The involvement of Zinc in so many plant enzymes means that deficiency greatly affects DM (dry matter) production, seed yields, health and strength. It is impossible to avoid 'lodging' (flattening of cereal crops) on Zinc deficient land, particularly when growing long-stemmed varieties of corn, owing to poor cell structure and strength. The other major cause of poor cell strength and integrity is the use of synthetic Nitrogen fertiliser, which weakens the cell wall and causes leakage. The combination of Zinc deficiency and synthetic Nitrogen applications makes the plant much more susceptible to invasion by diseases and this leads to a much greater use of pesticides! Few are aware that crops yields are limited by the amount of available Zinc - in other words, it does not matter how much Nitrogen you use, it will have no effect unless there is sufficient Zinc present. Once replaced, Zinc is highly insoluble and very persistent in soil. Animals cannot store Zinc and therefore need a daily supply. Mineral licks and supplements are better than nothing, but very 'hit and miss' compared to a natural supply from grass, silage and fodder grown on correctly-balanced soil  Zinc Deficiency Symptoms in Livestock
Zinc Deficiency Symptoms in Plants
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