The selenium content of Finnish forage crops

Abstract

The total of 145 plant samples were collected from 13 field stations in Finland during the crop years 1968 and 1969 and analysed for selenium by a fluorescence method using 2,3-diaminonaphthalene as the fluorescing reagent. The loss of selenium during analysis was measured by a Se75 tracer. The selenium content of all samples was very low. The mean value for hay samples was 0.014 ppm (range 0.002 to 0.048), and for grain samles 0.007 ppm (range 0.002 to 0.085). The samples with the highest selenium content came from Lapland (Rovaniemi), where the mean values for hay and grain were 0.036 ppm and 0.013 ppm respectively. There was no correlation between the plant selenium content and soil type. It appears that selenium deficiency diseases may occur anywhere in Finland unless Se supplementation is carried out.