Sodium (Na)
Cheap to fix and easy to over-diagnose: the widely quoted pasture ratio is an agronomy signal, not a diagnosis.
Often searched as salt, K:Na ratio.
What it changes in the tools
- K : Na
- Above 20:1 we raise it as a watch and nothing more. ⚠️ There is NO animal-validated dietary K:Na cutoff for sodium deficiency — the 20:1 figure is a UK pasture-fertiliser heuristic, so it is deliberately not a red risk here. Confirm from pasture Na (%DM) against requirement, or a blood test.
- Source: PDA leaflet 6 (UK fertiliser guidance) — an agronomy heuristic, not a diagnostic.
Which feeds carry the most sodium
From the cited composition of every feed in our library, as a percentage of dry matter. Useful when the answer is a feed change rather than a mineral product.
| Feed | % of dry matter |
|---|---|
| Swede Swedes accumulate sodium (1.04% DM), so they lift dietary sodium and DCAD meaningfully. If stock strip the leaves and leave the bulb, fibre runs higher than shown. | 1.04% |
| Process carrots Sodium sits at the top of published carrot values and will lift the diet’s DCAD noticeably — worth watching in a springer ration. | 0.65% |
| Maize gluten feed | 0.35% |
| Fodder beet (bulb) These are New Zealand bulb figures. They run materially lower in calcium, phosphorus and sulphur than the European whole-root numbers most tables carry — and that shortfall, alongside the sugar load, is exactly what makes calcium and acidosis the things to manage on a beet crop. | 0.28% |
| Plantain | 0.28% |
| Pasture — autumn (medium) | 0.27% |
Mineral products, if you're dosing
Dosed in grams per head per day rather than fed by the kilogram — a different decision from changing the diet, so they are listed apart from the feeds.
| Feed | % of dry matter |
|---|---|
| Salt (NaCl) | 39% |
| Sodium bicarbonate (rumen buffer) A rumen buffer and a chloride-free sodium source. It pushes DCAD strongly UP — wanted in a milking ration, and a milk-fever hazard if it reaches springing cows. | 27.2% |
Read it for your farm
Build the diet and it works the mineral balance out for you — including the indices below.
These are published reference bands, not a diagnosis. Mineral deficiencies and toxicities are diagnosed from the animal — blood, liver or tissue — not from a pasture test alone, and the treatment rates are veterinary decisions. Talk to your vet before dosing stock.