Relief in the Results (sort of): Soil & Grass Metrics are In!

Sheep I was excited to get my soil and forage analysis results back on Monday, they were very useful and thought-provoking. I spent many hours delving into the details to divine what it all means.

First, the soil- it looks pretty good overall. I wasnā€™t sure if it would be a mess from a century of farming, but it wasnā€™t. Most of the mineral metrics were medium to high, within the ā€œdesirableā€ ranges. The soil pH is a little low for optimal plant growth, so lime was recommended to raise the pH. And, nitrogen was low, so addition there was also recommended. Phosphorous, zinc and iron were all high; and that all translated into the forage measurements to some degree.

The forage testing was where I had the greatest interest. I wanted to assess important hoof health nutrients in the grass, to see where things might be going wrong for my sheep and all of their foot troubles. I suspected they were not getting enough copper, or possibly sulfur or zinc.

The overall nutrient numbers were excellent, I was thrilled with the results there. 23.6% crude protein (alfalfa hay is generally 16%, and lambs need at least that for good growth). The TDN (total digestible nutrients) was 72%, again beating alfalfa hay and being competitive with oat grains. (These are dry-matter #s, btw.) The detergent fiber measures were good too- overall, it measured as a highly digestible, high energy feed. Yay! And, thatā€™s really not surprising, since our lambs grew very well on it, and our ewes maintained superb body condition while nursing twins and triplets all summer. 

The trace mineral content is where things get interesting. There are different recommendations for appropriate levels, Iā€™ve just grabbed some from common sources, Iā€™m sure the values could be debated. There is less advice out there for sheep than for cattle, and we know they are similar but not the same. But this is a start.

  • Sulfur was 0.36%-high. 0.1% is recommended, 0.4% is the max; and high levels of sulfur are antagonistic to absorption of copper, selenium and thiamine.
  • Molybdenum was 4ppm-also high, ideal is <1ppm, and anything above 3ppm causes copper tie-up.
  • The copper to molybdenum ratio was 3:1-low, and anything below 4:1 causes copper tie-up. Anything below 10:1 is considered copper-safe for sheep.
  • Zinc was 37ppm-pretty high, 10ppm is considered sufficient for sheep. Zinc also binds with copper, but Iā€™ve not found good sources to tell me what should be considered ā€œhigh.ā€ Zinc has always been present in my mineral salts too.
  • The iron content was 597ppm, which is pretty crazy high. 50 is recommended, 1000 is considered the max. And levels above 400 are antagonistic to copper. It also binds with zinc, potassium, and vitamin E.
  • Copper was at 12ppm; but 14-20ppm is recommended for sheep when molybdenum is >3.0ppm, so copper in this case is too low.

Notice any trends there? I think this paints a clear picture of copper deficiency, and that likely zinc and sulfur deficiencies are not causing my foot rot problem. Itā€™s mind-boggling to note the three-way interactions, like that iron and zinc bind with copper, but also with each other. Itā€™s further complicated that any mineral mix I buy contains even more of these copper-binding minerals that are all binding to each other too, so thatā€™s just adding to the confusion. I feel more strongly than ever that my sheep need extra copper, but Iā€™m in no-manā€™s-land to know how much.

Potassium was also very high, at 3.19%. 0.65% is recommended, 3.0% is considered the max. Now, it binds with iron, so hopefully itā€™s tackling some of my iron excess; but excess potassium also blocks magnesium absorption, which is the cause of grass tetany. So, something for me to be watchful for.

All in all, that was a well-spent hundred bucks, to give me insight into whatā€™s going on with my soil and forage, and confirms my suspicions about copper. But it still leaves me short of answers of what to do about it! Iā€™m still readingā€¦

5 thoughts on “Relief in the Results (sort of): Soil & Grass Metrics are In!

  1. Linda says:

    Can you copper bolus sheep? I give my goats copper sulfate, but I understand your not really wanting to do that. But maybe a bolus that would give a small amount of copper? Like I said I don’t know if they do that with sheep or not.

  2. workingcollies says:

    Linda, I’m sure you certainly could and I’ve thought about that some after reading about so many goat owners who do it. I think the idea behind boluses is that they release slowly inside the rumen over days or weeks, so reduce the amount of times you have to feed the copper (or whatever you’re bolusing) for convenience. On one hand, it gives you better control of how much goes inside each animal (versus a feed bin where some animals may hog a greater share) but it seems like there is less control in knowing how fast that bolus is being absorbed. And then if sheep did present toxicity symptoms, you might potentially still have half a bolus in there continuing to release copper at a time when you’d want to completely pull their copper access. Plus, from what I understand from goat owners who do bolus, they consider the task unpleasant… šŸ˜› So, I’m leery of boluses, though I know goat many owners have success with them.

    I’m thinking a lot about Pat Coleby’s mix, or feeding her suggested minerals separately, and how that compares to the many proprietary mixes out there. But I haven’t quite found a combination that fits for me, yet, each supplement poses one problem or another. I just keep going round and round on what is the best solution!
    Michelle

  3. Doris says:

    Lol, it’s fun to watch you working on this problem. You really are putting a lot of good info together.
    I just talked to a guy this last week that my daughter and I supply with Pat’s mineral mix. He noticed that two months after he ran out of the mix, (he’d then bought a mineral block for them) the sheep were showing symptoms with their feet. He got another 50 lbs from us.

    So have you done anything else to amend your soil? I’d be so excited to find out the TDN and protein are so high. You must be doing something right!!

  4. workingcollies says:

    Doris, OMG, I’m obsessed! But, it’s just driven by this promise that maybe I can fix their feet, and that would be so awesome in so many ways. And, I like the idea of giving them the best possible nutrition.

    I will say, after 7 weeks in their current situation, NO LIMPING! That is truly a blessing to see, as I’ve always had at least one sheep favoring a foot, or kneeling a lot. Sometimes, I just stand out there and enjoy watching them walk, with no foot tenderness evident. Gosh, I sure hope I can keep that, but not kill any of them! Literally! šŸ˜›

    It’s too soon to make any sweeping declarations yet, though, because about the same time I started offering the goat mineral, I moved them onto different grass (RCG versus orchard mix), and also flushed them on COB for about 30 days for breding. And now I’ll be moving into feeding hay, which adds another variable; and then probably more COB at the end of their pregnancies. So that’s why I think it’ll really take 6-12 months of tinkering to declare that any one variable is the Holy Grail I’m seeking! šŸ™‚

    I am very pleased with the pasture results, though I can’t take credit. I think the reasons are multiple: the past owner was a dairy farmer, and they are known for being good feed managers. Some of the fields were fallow for some years, so probably benefitted from the natural grass and clover growth and decomposition cycles. And, there were 4 floods in the last 20 years which supposedly bring a lot of nutrient in. So, I guess that’s why. I feel lucky, since a lot of people inherit ruined ground from past farmer owners…

    Michelle

Leave a Reply to workingcollies Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *