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Beware Mycotoxin in Indiana Corn
Mycotoxin levels surveyed just before harvest are the highest Indiana has seen in 10 years, said Charles Woloshuk, Purdue University plant pathologist.
Mycotoxins are toxic compounds produced by certain fungi. Each year since 1989, the Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service has collected two samples of five ears from each of their field plots and sent them to Purdue for evaluation of ear rots and mycotoxins. This year‘s 316 samples came from 70 counties throughout the state.
Twenty of the samples that had significant amounts of Fusarium, Gibberella and Apergillus ear rots were sent to the Indiana Animal Disease Diagnostic laboratory for mycotoxin analysis. One of the major observations of the analysis was the number of samples containing deoxynivalenol (DON). DON is produced by Gibberella ear rot, which thrives in cool, rainy weather during the first 21 days after silking. At levels of 0.5 to 8 parts per million (ppm), DON is of concern to swine producers, because swine are much more sensitive to this mycotoxin than are ruminants and poultry.
Another highly concentrated mycotoxin of concern is fumonisin, which is produced by the pathogen that causes Fusarium ear rot. Fusarium is most prominent when insects damage ears. Samples from eight counties contained fumonisin at a concentration of 0.7 to 174 ppm, five of which were above 18 ppm. Fumonisin at these levels is far beyond the amounts that can cause pulmonary edema in swine and equine leucoencephalomalacia (ELEM) in horses.
ELEM, or moldy corn poisoning, is a disease affecting horses, mules and donkeys. Caused by feeding moldy corn over several days, this disease affects the central nervous system and often causes liver damage. Horses suffering from ELEM will often show signs of apathy, drowsiness, pharyngeal paralysis and blindness. By the time these symptoms are present, it may be too late to treat the animal. "Horse owners should avoid feeding corn screenings or poor-quality corn with many small, damaged kernels," said Mark Russell, Purdue horse specialist. "When purchasing feeds, horse owners should always ask their source about the practices that have been used to ensure fumonisin-tested and high-quality corn. "There is no reason to panic if feeds are coming from a credible vendor who is using high-quality corn in their horse feeds."
For corn producers, there are ways to minimize the damage caused by infected kernels. If possible, pre-cleaning of dried grains is helpful. Also crucial to grain health is proper storage. Grain should be dried to less than 14 percent moisture, then cooled to below 50 degrees as soon as possible. For winter storage, grain should be cooled to 30 degrees. Storage should be limited to the cold weather season and no infected corn should be kept into the following summer.
In order to determine if corn is infected with mycotoxins, samples of suspect corn should be analyzed. For more information about mycotoxins, ear rot diseases and proper grain storage, visit the Purdue Extension mycotoxin Web site http://www.btny.purdue.edu/NC129/. Further questions should be directed to Purdue Extension at (888) EXT-INFO.
Mycotoxin levels surveyed just before harvest are the highest Indiana has seen in 10 years, said Charles Woloshuk, Purdue University plant pathologist.
Mycotoxins are toxic compounds produced by certain fungi. Each year since 1989, the Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service has collected two samples of five ears from each of their field plots and sent them to Purdue for evaluation of ear rots and mycotoxins. This year‘s 316 samples came from 70 counties throughout the state.
Twenty of the samples that had significant amounts of Fusarium, Gibberella and Apergillus ear rots were sent to the Indiana Animal Disease Diagnostic laboratory for mycotoxin analysis. One of the major observations of the analysis was the number of samples containing deoxynivalenol (DON). DON is produced by Gibberella ear rot, which thrives in cool, rainy weather during the first 21 days after silking. At levels of 0.5 to 8 parts per million (ppm), DON is of concern to swine producers, because swine are much more sensitive to this mycotoxin than are ruminants and poultry.
Another highly concentrated mycotoxin of concern is fumonisin, which is produced by the pathogen that causes Fusarium ear rot. Fusarium is most prominent when insects damage ears. Samples from eight counties contained fumonisin at a concentration of 0.7 to 174 ppm, five of which were above 18 ppm. Fumonisin at these levels is far beyond the amounts that can cause pulmonary edema in swine and equine leucoencephalomalacia (ELEM) in horses.
ELEM, or moldy corn poisoning, is a disease affecting horses, mules and donkeys. Caused by feeding moldy corn over several days, this disease affects the central nervous system and often causes liver damage. Horses suffering from ELEM will often show signs of apathy, drowsiness, pharyngeal paralysis and blindness. By the time these symptoms are present, it may be too late to treat the animal. "Horse owners should avoid feeding corn screenings or poor-quality corn with many small, damaged kernels," said Mark Russell, Purdue horse specialist. "When purchasing feeds, horse owners should always ask their source about the practices that have been used to ensure fumonisin-tested and high-quality corn. "There is no reason to panic if feeds are coming from a credible vendor who is using high-quality corn in their horse feeds."
For corn producers, there are ways to minimize the damage caused by infected kernels. If possible, pre-cleaning of dried grains is helpful. Also crucial to grain health is proper storage. Grain should be dried to less than 14 percent moisture, then cooled to below 50 degrees as soon as possible. For winter storage, grain should be cooled to 30 degrees. Storage should be limited to the cold weather season and no infected corn should be kept into the following summer.
In order to determine if corn is infected with mycotoxins, samples of suspect corn should be analyzed. For more information about mycotoxins, ear rot diseases and proper grain storage, visit the Purdue Extension mycotoxin Web site http://www.btny.purdue.edu/NC129/. Further questions should be directed to Purdue Extension at (888) EXT-INFO.
