New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research abstracts

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Short communication

Ingestion of soil fluorine: its impact on the fluorine metabolism of dairy cows

N. D. Grace¹
P. Loganathan²
M. W. Deighton¹
G. Molano¹
M. J. Hedley²

¹AgResearch Limited
Grasslands Research Centre
Private Bag 11 008
Palmerston North, New Zealand
email: neville.grace@agresearch.co.nz

²Fertilizer and Lime Research Centre
Institute of Natural Resources
Massey University
Private Bag 11 222
Palmerston North, New Zealand

Abstract  In grazing cattle high fluoride (F) intakes are associated with soil ingestion. The ingestion of soil (F) (93% of dietary F) at a rate of 1562 mg F day^–1 by mature dairy cows over 63 days, when compared with animals on basal diet (no soil) providing 110 mg F day^–1, resulted in an increase in mean serum F concentrations from 0.10 to 0.22 mg litre^–1, and no detectable change in mean metacarpal F concentrations (1125 mg F kg^–1 DM), while the apparent absorption of soil F was 44%. However, an intake of soil F (77% of dietary F) at 446 mg F day^–1 had no detectable effect on mean serum or bone F concentrations of the dairy cows. The relationship between soil F intake (x) and serum F concentration (y) was curvilinear (y = 0.0837e^0.0007x). The observed changes in serum and bone concentrations indicate that the potential risk of fluorosis occurring in grazing dairy cows is very low.

Keywords  dairy cows; fluorine; soil fluorine intake; serum fluorine; bone fluorine; apparent fluorine absorption

A04017; Received 4 March 2004; accepted 3 November 2004, Online publication date 21 March 2005
New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research, 2005, Vol. 48: 23–27
0028–8233/05/4801–0023 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2005

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