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Critical Situation In Corn Has Producers Looking For Answers

By Kay Ledbetter
 
Corn farmers worried about fumonisin contamination in their fields need to immediately contact their crop insurance agent – that was the message from two emergency meetings held Sept. 27 in the Texas High Plains.
 
The potential for fumonisin contamination in corn fields throughout the region prompted about 700 farmers, crop consultants, insurance agents and end-users to pack Dimmitt and Dumas meetings conducted by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and Texas Corn Producers.
 
More than 50 percent of the corn grown in Texas comes from the High Plains region. The primary market for this corn is the cattle feeding industry, and according to the latest “The Impact of Agribusiness Texas High Plains,” it accounts for about $635 million in annual sales in the region.
 
Fumonisins are toxins produced by two species of Fusarium fungi, according to Dr. Tom Isakeit, AgriLife Extension plant pathologist, College Station. Fumonisins are mycotoxins that can cause illnesses in livestock, especially horses, so there are regulatory limits to the amounts a load of corn can contain.
 
Isakeit explained that not all molds growing on ears produce mycotoxins. The Fusarium fungi that produce fumonisin can be visible as a dull white coloration of the kernels, but this appearance doesn’t mean the toxin is present. The only way to determine that is with a chemical test of harvested grain.
 
And therein lies the concern producers expressed at the meetings. Who should test the corn? When? Where? How? Are all tests the same? And, why are farmers being discounted so heavily compared to previous years?
 
There are producer concerns with some elevator tests and the resulting discounts they are taking to the value of their corn, said Dr. Jourdan Bell, AgriLife Extension agronomist in Amarillo. Some farmers have even had loads rejected.
 
 
So far, only the early maturing corn has been harvested, and it is estimated more than 60 percent of the crop is still in the field, Bell said. The meetings were conducted to provide producers information about fumonisin and Fusarium identification in the field, as well as notify producers to act now while they have an opportunity to deal with any potential issues in later-maturing corn.
 
“Producers need to evaluate their fields, and if they have a concern, contact their insurance agent,” Bell said. “The meetings also provided the opportunity to address testing concerns and discuss standardization in sampling and testing procedures.”
 
Ears of corn possibly contaminated with fumonisins, toxins produced by two species of Fusarium fungi.
 
Bell said fumonisin is not new to this growing region, but the severity seen this year might be higher than usual.
 
Drought and high temperatures in July followed by a wet August are factors for the fumonisin contamination this year, Isakeit said. The late-maturing crop may not have experienced these stress factors at critical growth stages and may have a lesser degree of contamination.
 
The severity of fumonisin contamination can vary within a region, a field or even from kernel to kernel on an ear, he said. Even though there is widespread contamination in this area that doesn’t mean that all fields are affected.
 
Isakeit said there are several things including hybrid selection, planting conditions, crop management and harvest techniques that can impact the severity of fumonisin contamination. For more information, go to http://bit.ly/2fUWeXv and http://bit.ly/2k6M9vd.
 
A clean ear of corn can be found in the same field as ears contaminated with Fusarium fungi and possible fumonisin contamination. 
 
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency sent its national team led by branch chief Matt Mitchell, Kansas City, to attend the meetings. Mitchell said the priorities of corn producers who think they may have an insurable loss should be to “contact your insurance agent and file a notice of loss along with the cause of damage.”
 
This opens a claim file and an adjuster will be sent for a site visit to go through the loss procedures, explain to the producer how the claim will be handled depending upon the condition of the crop, as well as pull samples to send to an approved laboratory for quantitative testing, Mitchell said.
 
Any corn testing higher than 2 ppm, or parts per million, fumonisin can qualify the load for a quality loss adjustment, depending on the individual type of policy. Test results are recognized by the Risk Management Agency, RMA, as official when generated by a Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration or GIPSA-approved lab or by a lab participating in the Office of the Texas State Chemist One Sample Strategy system.
 
Discussion points being shared by RMA can be found on the Texas Corn Producers website at http://texascorn.org/.
 
While elevators conduct a quick test that measures fumonisin levels above or below 30 ppm, there are only two certified testing facilities in the High Plains at this time – the Amarillo Grain Exchange and Plainview Grain Inspection.
 
Producers attending the meetings expressed a great concern about the ability of these facilities to process all the samples in a timely manner. By the end of these meetings, several elevator and laboratory attendees had entered discussions to become part of the recognized programs.
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