Abstract: This article briefly describes common mineral imbalances affecting grazing ruminants at farms, their mineral requirements, factors affecting these requirements and different methods of detection of mineral status of the animal. The benefits and limitations of mineral analyses of soil, forage, animal tissues, and fluids samples for the purpose of identifying and preventing mineral disorders of grazing animals are discussed. The role of minerals as buffers, in immunity, as antioxidant and their bioavailability from various sources have also been described.