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Nutritional diseases are a very common problem in Arizona. About half the cases tested in the toxicology laboratory are really nutritional testing according to Reggiardo. Most of the nutritional profiles focus on production agriculture, and with increasing frequency, on horses. For cattle, mineral deficiencies top the list. And surprisingly, copper deficiency ranks high.

"Arizona has widespread copper deficiencies in ruminants," he says. It's ironic that Arizona is known as the Copper State, because it is also in a region with widely widespread copper deficiencies in cows and sheep. Such deficiencies occur because of deficiencies in the soil in some areas, or because of interference in its absorption by high concentrations of other minerals in the plants."