A warning has been issued for the states in the corn belt of the USA. Feedstock producers in the US should be mindful about the mycotoxin levels in feedstuffs. Kansas already saw death of some pigs and horses due to high levels of two mycotoxins, fumonisin and aflatoxin.
The Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) is encouraging producers and feed manufacturers to be mindful of mycotoxin levels in corn being fed to livestock this winter. “Summer drought coupled with wet harvest conditions creates a high risk for mycotoxin’s to grow,” said NDA Director Steve Wellman.
And it is not only an issue in the US. In Canada, high levels of deoxynivalenol (DON, also known as vomitoxin) have been reported.
In an open letter, the organization of grain farmers in Ontario published the following statement: “We are facing one of the most severe outbreaks of DON in corn that we have ever seen, and some areas of the province are being hit especially hard.”
And while high levels of mycotoxins in feeding stuffs not only cause losses in livestock, they also will ultimately show in the milk. Aflatoxin M1 is the best studied in milk and samples have been found which significantly exceed the EU maximum level of 50 mg/L. But it is not only Aflatoxin M1 that can be found in milk after consumption of mycotoxin-contaminated feedstuff by dairy cattle: other mycotxins found in milk include ochratoxins A and aflatoxins G1, G2m B1, B2 and M2, fumonisin B1, zeraleone and their metabolites.
So it will be interesting to see if the mycotoxin levels that are now already at alarming levels in the feedstuffs can be managed to not lead to a significant increase in the mycotoxins levels in milk and milk products.
