By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Corn growers all across the region have had a rollercoaster year due to the unusually wet growing conditions. But through it all, they have grown what could turn out to ne a record crop.

A big concern at this point however, will be the condition of their corn once it makes its way to area elevators. The damp conditions have caused many producers to cut wet corn, something that has added to the potential of increased levels of mycotoxin contamination, specifically toxins produced by Fusarium molds including DON (vomitoxin), zearalenone, and fusaric acid.
Alltech, a global animal health company, providing natural, nutritional feed supplements for animal agriculture is making an effort to help producers combat this problem by establishing the ‘Mycotoxin Hotline’ along with sponsorship of the www.knowmycotoxins.com The website is designed to provide producers and feed mill professionals a quick route to answers and a centralized point of access to references and industry experts according to information from the company.

Billy Frey, spokesman for Alltech said this year has been particularly bad for the development of mycotoxins and notes the unique patented methods the company has developed to counter the problem.

“Alltech has been researching mycotoxins for probably 18 to 20 years now. As a company, our core competency is in yeast. We grow a lot of yeast and we know everything we can do with it,” he said. “We can develop a product from that yeast that can help alleviate these problems with mycotoxins.”

Frey added that much of the crop will contain excess amounts of moisture leaving farmers with the option of putting the corn up wet creating even more chance of mycotoxin contamination or drying the crop which is going to cost them money. He added that any of the mycotoxins work in low levels and are not consistent throughout the crop ending up in feed which hurts animal production.

“We have a mycotoxin team here that is actually going throughout the United States and Canada right now talking to people and answering their questions,” said Frey.

The problem is not just something farmers here deal with but has become a concern all over the world. According to information contained on the mycrotoxin website, the World Health Organization estimated in 1985 that as much as one-fourth of the world’s grain supply was contaminated with mycrotoxins with an expected increase over the years due to increased global imports and exports.

Alltech produces specialty feed additives known as mycotoxin absorbents or binders that work as binding agents that attach to the mycrotoxins keeping them from being absorbed in the animal. The binding agent and mycotoxins are then excreted in the manure.

“We continue to do research everyday,” said Frey.

“We have scientists in our lab all over the world trying to find more about what mycotoxins can do.

Sometimes, the more you uncover, the more there is to uncover.”
Information from Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary medicine notes that more than 250 mycotoxins have been detected and while most are not considered to be important to animal health, because there are so many varieties, they produce many different kinds of diseases, called mycotoxicoses.

They may cause diseases of the liver, alimentary canal, smooth muscles, or kidneys but mycotoxicoses are not contagious. The information also reports that chemical analysis is the best way to find mycotoxins in feed.

The corn crop in Kentucky has mostly been harvested at this point and with the good weather November saw, the field drying process improved greatly over what had been a dismally wet October.
But farmers are encouraged to be diligent when it comes to checking for mycotoxins.

Sam McNeill, Extension agricultural engineer and Paul Vincelli, Extension plant pathologist with the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service recently reported in a grains crop update that “While not all fungi produce mycotoxins, mold-damaged kernels are more susceptible to those that do. So it is best to err on the side of caution and check corn lots with field mold for mycotoxins before feeding to livestock.”

Producers looking for help with their questions can call the Mycotoxin Hotline toll-free at 866-322-3484.