Mineral composition of forage and water in the North and Northwest of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, was determined during the dry and rainy seasons. It was found low levels of sodium, sulphur, copper and zinc were found in forage samples. In some places the calcium levels are adequate to attend animal requirements. The phosphorus levels were generally low, except in two places and those of magnesium and potassium were above beef cattle requirements under grazing conditions. Only in one place the sodium levels reached 10 % of the minimum cattle requirements and those of sulphur, except in two places, were very low. The levels of iron, manganese and cobalt were higher than the requirements and deficiencies of copper and zinc were found. Samples of water showed calcium contents over 70 mg/L and of sodium over 55.1 mg/L in some places, but the mean values found in most of the places were very low. The mean sodium contents in some places were four times the mean values; those for potassium in some places varied from 2 to 6 times and those for sulphur were very low when compared with USA mean values. The microelements analysed in water usually were very low when compared with the safety levels.
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