St. Louis, Missouri
September 21, 2007
In a major expansion of its Web
site, the National Corn Growers
Association (NCGA) has added a section devoted to mycotoxin
management in corn.
“We hope to spread knowledge about the danger mycotoxins can
pose, and the advances in dealing with it,” said Scott Averhoff,
chairman of the NCGA Mycotoxin Task Force. “Research has been
going on for more than 20 years, but a lot of growers only have
to deal with mycotoxins on a sporadic basis. They need a
resource to provide facts and information.”
Mycotoxins are produced by several families of fungus. The two
primary mycotoxins affecting corn are aflatoxin and fumonisin.
Part of the increased attention to mycotoxins has resulted from
the increased popularity of distillers dried grains with
solubles (DDGS), noted Averhoff. Mycotoxins can be concentrated
in DDGS during ethanol production. As production and demand for
DDGS grows, Averhoff says, corn growers need a better
understanding of mycotoxins as well as local resources for
information.
“The potential could arise where corn that is safe for feeding
is processed into ethanol, but the resulting DDGS could come out
above FDA feeding action levels,” Averhoff explained.
The new section provides information on recommended management
practices, FDA guidelines for acceptable mycotoxin levels for
feed, and links to more information on mycotoxin research. It
can be found under the Production & Stewardship Key Issues area
on the NCGA Web site at
http://www.ncga.com/Production/Mycotoxins/index.asp.
The National Corn Growers Association’s mission is to create
and increase opportunities for corn growers. NCGA represents
more than 32,000 members and 47 affiliated state organizations
and hundreds of thousands of growers who contribute to state
checkoff programs. |
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