Welcome!  This website was created to disseminate information and results from the 2001-2002 Forage Mineral Survey conducted by the University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service.

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In recent years, University of Tennessee Extension Agents and Specialists have had numerous reports of problems related to the mineral nutrition of beef cattle. These problems have sometimes been related to such things as grass tetany, due to magnesium deficiency (and possible excess potassium), but are also related to deficiencies and imbalances of copper, sulfur, zinc and possibly selenium and other minerals.

A total of 544 tall fescue samples were received from 72 counties and 5 University of Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Stations across the state, with 88, 81, 212 and 163 samples from Spring 2001, Fall 2001, Spring 2002 and Fall 2002, respectively.

The beef cattle industry is very important to the Tennessee economy.  Tennessee currently ranks ninth in the US in total beef cow numbers, with approximately 1.06 million in the state and cash receipts in 2001 of just over $409 million.  University of Tennessee Agricultural Economists tell us that the dollars generated by the cattle business are multiplied by up to six times as they are used in local economies.  This translates to approximately $2.5 billion annually. 

Funding for this project was provided in part by Initiatives for Future Agriculture and Food Systems (IFAFS) grant #00-52101-96219 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Additional financial support was supplied by Tennessee Forage and Grasslands Council, Tennessee Beef Cattle Improvement Association, Lower Middle Tennessee Cattle Association, Tennessee Farmers Cooperative, Southern States Cooperative and various individuals, companies and county livestock associations.

University of Tennessee Insittue of Agriculture | Agricultural Extension Service | Animal Science Department