If you’re feeding maize, you likely have a mycotoxin problem on your farm, delegates at a recent ruminant nutrition were told.
Breaking down the results of this year’s mycotoxin survey, Laura Quinn, Ruminant Technical Species Expert at DSM, said: “When plants get stressed – whether that be drought, weather-related or disease – they can be vulnerable to being attacked by fungi, and mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites which are released by the fungi.
Biomin and DSM have run the survey since 2004.
The firm analyses over 20,000 samples a year and offers localised predictions for mycotoxins based on weather patterns.
“Mycotoxins are anti-protozoal, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal, which is great for disinfectant, but considering in the rumen we are trying to use these to break down feed materials to produce milk, we don’t want them having that effect in the cow.”
In dairy animals, mycotoxins have been linked with reduced feed intake, lower milk yields, liver inflammation, lower vaccine efficacy, and lower fatty acid production, among other production and health issues.
There are currently more than 1,000 mycotoxins identified, with more being discovered by scientists all the time.
FoodWorld 