Some Ways To Deal With Mycotoxins Problem

Mycotoxins are toxic substances that may be present even in clean looking and well preserved feed for your cattle. They are present in almost all the animal feed and so a proper way to deal with the problem needs to be devised. Let’s look at some such ways.

• Grow and harvest cleaner crops
  

It is not possible to completely remove the mycotoxins but there are certain other ways in which you can handle the situation. One effective way is to grow and harvest cleaner crops for the cattle. After harvesting, the crop needs to be stored as quickly as possible in a clean clamp. This will not eliminate the threat of mycotoxins but it will help reduce the growth of mould in the grains.

• Minimise the impact of mycotoxins
  

Most cattle diets can suffer from mycotoxin contamination. So one should do everything possible to reduce the mycotoxin level in animal feed. A broad spectrum mycotoxin binder such as Alltech’s Mycosorb A+ can help mitigate the threat to animal health. The objective of adding a binder is to bind a wide range of mycotoxins in the feed rapidly after the cattle consumes it.

• Lab tests of feed
  

Lab tests will help you analyze and understand the level of mycotoxins present in your grain and once you get to know the level, it will help you to manage the problem effectively. Samples of the suspect grain can be sent to commercial analytical laboratory to evaluate the mycotoxins level. By knowing the level you can mix good quality grain with contaminated grain to reduce its harmful effect, but most importantly know the best inclusion rate for your mycotoxin binder depending on the level of risk to your animals and your profits.

Keep Your Livestock Safe From Mycotoxins With a Mycotoxin Binder

Any natural farm environment is home to not only crops and animals but also to fungi and molds, which produce Mycotoxins that can adversely affect the farms productivity. Molds primarily proliferate in cereals or feed such as maize.

Any farm feed subjected to improper storage can suffer mold growth. Even a small amount of mold can contain significant levels of Mycotoxins. This condition may not be detected by naked eye but Mycotoxin affected animals usually show the following symptoms:

• Sore hocks
• Reduced milk yield
• Abnormality in reproduction
• Poor health and disease prone animals
• Increased cell counts
• Degraded productivity

All of the above-mentioned symptoms in farm animals may be an indication of a Mycotoxin infection on a farm. A few common Mycotoxins that negatively impact the farm are Aflatoxin, fumonisin, ochratoxin, T2 toxin, zearalenone and vomitoxin. These are mainly produced by molds like Aspergillus, Fusarium, and Penicillium. Over five hundred different Mycotoxins have been discovered up to now. Feed grain can be contaminated by a single Mycotoxin or a mix of different Mycotoxins and hence it becomes difficult to eradicate the issue through sampling. Any Mycotoxin mitigation method must be efficient and effective enough to combat a broad spectrum of Mycotoxins.

Mycotoxin binding formulations and their effects:

A Mycotoxin binder is a formulation often containing active minerals and  gluco-mannans that bind to Mycotoxins reducing the impact of their toxicity. A good mycotoxin binder will provide a broad spectrum of toxicity mitigation. The combined action of gluco-mannans and active minerals is highly important in decreasing the threat from Mycotoxins and preventing financial losses to the farm.

Due to effective binding to feed additives the Mycotoxins fail to cross the intestinal walls of the animals and as the two are bound together the binder excretes the Mycotoxin along with itself out of the animal providing enough safety and protection to the animals.

Understanding What The Mycotoxin Inhibitor Is And Its Uses

Mycotoxin contamination is a common farm problem found across the globe. Basically these toxins are produced by molds. Some strains of fungi and molds are commonly known to produce Mycotoxins which impart negative effects on farm animals such as reduced feeding, poor breeding, weak and poor performing animals and also loss of the immune system. All of these adversely affect the farm’s profitability. It therefore becomes crucial to understand molds, Mycotoxins and their mitigation processes to prevent economic losses caused by Mycotoxin contamination.

Molds and their classifications:

Molds can be classified in to two broad classes according to their storage and harvesting process.

• The first is the field fungi that naturally grows on crops even before the crops are harvested. Fusarium sp. is a common example that is widely known for producing Mycotoxins like fumonisin, vomitoxin, DON, zearalenone, T2 etc. These molds require specific climatic conditions to grow and once an infection occurs, it is expected to hit an entire geographical location.
• The second type of mold is the storage mold. These require low moisture concentrations to grow and so reproduce very well in grain storage bins or grain facilities. These may or may not contaminate all the grain present in a bin and so these types are difficult to sample out or to detect. Aflatoxin producing molds such as Penicillium and Aspergillus are common examples of storage molds.
  

Mold and Mycotoxin Inhibiting agents:

A mycotoxin inhibitor or binder is a special formulation that is added to animal feeds. In activated conditions, these formulations reduce mold infection by putting an end to mold growth. As mold growth is reduced the chance of fungal proliferation in feed grain also reduces leading to a reduced chance of Mycotoxin contamination. Such inhibitors are often a mix of several organic acids, especially propionic acids being the chief component of a inhibitor formulation.

These inhibitors are most commonly used as feed additives and they do a wonderful job in preventing the proliferation of Mycotoxin producing molds.