Aflatoxin

mozarkian · #1 01/08/12, 05:04 PM

When I picked up feed this week, the operator told me that he had to tell me that there "could" be aflatoxin in the corn, according to what he was told by his distiller's grain supplier. He said he didn't feel there was any reason to be concerned but that he had to disclose this to me.
The mix I get is a mixture of 990# rice bran, 400# rice hulls, 600# distillers grain, 9# calcium and 1# selenium per ton of mixed ration, which is a 16% protein feed.

I cannot find a lot of info about this. Hoping some of you will educate me on this. The link below is from Univ of MO.

http://aes.missouri.edu/delta/croppest/aflacorn.stm

tinknal · #2 01/08/12, 05:47 PM

According to your link you can buy a test kit rather cheaply.

myersfarm · #3 01/08/12, 05:52 PM

what does this mix cost if you do not mind in your area...I had a feed store try to sell me close to this mix the other day....$13.40 a 100 in a 1500 pound bag

myersfarm · #4 01/08/12, 05:56 PM

the reason for the test is each batch of distillers ..will be different in aflatoxin because it come from different distillers plants....and ..I buy DDG in 22 ton loads everything changes week to week the plant mixes the batches together so in that 22 ton one ton could be high the other 21 could be low

they do not go to the trouble of testing each load because no way could it be right

Goverment inspectors are checking the protien and other stuff on label to make sure it is right......real hard to mix it correctly when the DDG varies so much and from different farmers

mozarkian · #5 01/08/12, 06:27 PM

tinknal, I saw that, thanks. I know there were some issues with this a few years back and I am kinda wanting to know if anyone on here experienced any issues with it then or now. I bought the grain, and plan to feed it, but would like to learn what I can.
--
myersfarm, I bought this in at Reynolds Feed -- $14 / cwt. He will sell other mixes for less than that.
You mention buying DDG in your post, are you concerned about the aflatoxin issue affecting your animals or is it just one of those things. My opinion, right or wrong, is that corn from the local MFA probably isn't the healthiest corn to feed either, so its kinda a "darned if you do, darned if you don't" thing.

myersfarm · #6 01/08/12, 06:49 PM

I think if you were very unlucky and got 10 ..18 wheeler loads with high aflatoxin in all the loads it would be a problem...with my herd but should not be a problem just getting one bad now and then

if you have ever been to a DDG plant you will see what i am talking about...all the grain is mixed together in bins then send to the distillers section then all the DG comes out as the batch is done going into a drier..and that comes out dumped on the ground...and then scooped up and put in 18 wheelers.....so it is all mixed together the good corn and the bad...I have a program that tells how much distillers to mix in my grinder and I trust the program......feeding to high of distillers can cause a lot more problems then this would in my opion

**gone-a-milkin** · #7 01/08/12, 09:53 PM

I am glad to hear that they TOLD you of a risk.
My understanding is that when the conditions are right, there can be very high concentrations in some of these loads.
If you are feeding out to just a few head, I would worry more than if you are buying tons of new feed each month.

The dairy where I work is no longer using any distillers grain in the ration.
Last year we had a 'general unthriftiness' and lack of gain, mostly from the youngest milkers.
Then after losing 4 late-stage pregnancies w/in a few weeks (one cow died and 3 others aborted) the feed was tested.
It was through the roof on the mold count. I think 3 different types of mold.
I could look it up, there is a big stack of papers about it.

Now it is just not in the mix. Farmer Boss says he is willing to try using it again (it is so affordable, relatively) but not until we get a decent growing season.
If the crops are stressed, then it rains at harvest time, then it sits around soggy after processing? No, he wont buy it under those conditions.
We went w/o any grain at all for sevral months and fed the cows some clay in their minerals for a time.
It was not fun at all.

Now, we could never 'prove' that it was the grain, especially for something like 'failure to thrive', but since that component was removed things have been uneventful.

If it is cheap to test it, I would certainly do that knowing what I do now.

myersfarm · #8 01/08/12, 09:59 PM

Gone a milking I understand it is a cheap test but not very accurate.....unless you test each couple hundred pounds..as one farmers crop could be bad and another be good and it is all mixed together so your test sample is not accurate to the whole load

tinknal · #9 01/08/12, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by myersfarm

Gone a milking I understand it is a cheap test but not very accurate.....unless you test each couple hundred pounds..as one farmers crop could be bad and another be good and it is all mixed together so your test sample is not accurate to the whole load

The way I understand it there is an acceptable level. The mixed batch of feed should be consistent.

**gone-a-milkin** · #10 01/08/12, 10:08 PM

myersfarm, that is why we arent using it here.
There is just no way to be sure.

The mill came right down and pumped it all out of the bin when the tests came in and they felt bad to lose sales to this dairy.
It hurts the mill too when nobody wants to buy from them.

My understanding is that some of these loads are 'wet' and once they are mixed the mold spreads and continues to grow.
Just knowing how that 'fine' stuff (it is like flour, some of it) can pack down in a bin makes me wonder if you couldnt get a mold colony established and have it thriving around the edges on-site...during the perfect conditions.

I dont know. I hate to scare anyone.
Take it with a grain of salt, what I am saying. But if the mill operator is warning you, they must have a reason.

myersfarm · #11 01/08/12, 10:17 PM

yes Gone a milking my understanding is it needs to be feed when wet in 10 days ...

agmantoo · #12 01/08/12, 11:17 PM

I do not have any documentation to prove my statement but when I was in the pork business I had the understanding that corn grain with aflatoxin would be effervescent when viewed under an ultraviolet light. I do not know if this would apply to distillers grain or not.

agmantoo · #13 01/08/12, 11:21 PM

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has established action levels for aflatoxin present in food or feed to protect human and animal health.[2]

Levels must not exceed:
ppb Criterion
20 For all food for human consumption and for corn and other grains intended for immature animals (including immature poultry) and for dairy animals, or when its destination is not known, and for animal feeds, other than corn or cottonseed meal
100 For corn and other grains intended for breeding beef cattle, breeding swine, or mature poultry
200 For corn and other grains intended for finishing swine of 100 pounds or greater
300 For corn and other grains intended for finishing (i.e., feedlot) beef cattle, and for cottonseed meal intended for beef cattle, swine or poultry.

mozarkian · #14 01/08/12, 11:35 PM

Quote:

100 For corn and other grains intended for breeding beef cattle, breeding swine, or mature poultry
200 For corn and other grains intended for finishing swine of 100 pounds or greater
300 For corn and other grains intended for finishing (i.e., feedlot) beef cattle, and for cottonseed meal intended for beef cattle, swine or poultry

Agmantoo, would I be correct in assuming that the corn I purchase from my local feed store could very well test as high or higher than the DDG? They don't ask if I am feeding hogs, chickens or milk producing cattle... Do feed stores have test data on each load of corn they get?
Gone-a-milking-- thanks for letting me know. I don't feed this as a total ration, it makes up about a third of their ration at the moment. Going to keep looking into it. He didn't per se "warn" me, just said he had to disclose the possibility. But I have been there several times now and this was the first time he has done so...

mozarkian · #15 01/08/12, 11:36 PM

And is this only MO corn or are other areas experiencing this as well?

**gone-a-milkin** · #16 01/08/12, 11:56 PM

Maybe now that the weather is not quite so warm, it will quiet down the mold growth too.

It seemed like the younger animals were more affected by the mold toxins here.
Maybe the big 'pushy' cows left only the yuckiest stuff for them to eat?
Or maybe it is just based on bodyweight? Either way, it was a loss.

We just didnt have a good spring flush of milk like normal. A few cows w/ mastitis or other infections that just didnt bounce back like they should.
You know what I mean, they just werent RIGHT. Tested the pastures and didnt even consider the ration.
It was like a slap in the face, honestly to learn what the problem was.
Then when we had those slipped calves a red flag went up. It took a couple months to get things back to normal.

On another (related) note:

So many of the minerals they add to the ration come from overseas.
That has always worried me. Even worse after this incident. Just saying.

**gone-a-milkin** · #17 01/09/12, 12:00 AM

I only know about the feed from that one mill and it was last year in Feb when we went through our ordeal.
The grain had come down from KC. I think they source it originally from many places though.

agmantoo · #18 01/09/12, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mozarkian

Agmantoo, would I be correct in assuming that the corn I purchase from my local feed store could very well test as high or higher than the DDG? They don't ask if I am feeding hogs, chickens or milk producing cattle... Do feed stores have test data on each load of corn they get? Feed stores that I am aware of do not test. Buyers of corn, the ones with the huge bins do test and do turn away grain that test to contain aflatoxin. Lots of aflatoxin does show up in dog food. It appears that grain for meat animals and certainly grain for milk cows gets tested closely. I have seen corn dumped by the tractor trailer load for having aflatoxin. I myself would not feed aflatoxin grains nor would I want to handle it. Here is an article that probably is as unbiased as can be located. Read it and be your own judge http://www.noble.org/ag/Pests/Aflatoxin/Prevention.htm

Error on the safe side would be my best advice!

mozarkian · #19 01/09/12, 01:05 PM

Boy it sure seems harder to keep cows now than when I was a kid. Best I remember we fed them sweet feed, hay and pasture, stuck a salt block in the barnlot, milked twice a day, walked the girls over to visit the beef bull every year,drank milk and ate beef. I can't remember ever having a downer cows, metabolic issues, or any drama like this!
Thought getting older was supposed to be easy...

myersfarm · #20 01/09/12, 01:18 PM

Mozarkian your right but back in those days a GOOD jersey cow got 3 ears of corn...and gave 3 gallons of milk a day...or the beef steers were 3 years old and weight 700 lbs