By Bruce Cochrane.
A University of Saskatchewan Swine Nutritionist says, while harvested grain contaminated by low levels of DON can be mixed down with clean grain to acceptable levels, heavily contaminated grain should not be fed to pigs.
As a result of abnormally high amounts of rainfall during the growing season, spring cereal crops throughout Manitoba and Saskatchewan are reported to have been infected by Fusarium Head Blight, a mould which produces Deoxynivalenol, or DON, a mycoxtin that can cause depressed feed intake, decreased growth and in extreme cases death.
Dr. Denise Beaulieu, an Assistant Professor in Monogastric Nutrition with the University of Saskatchewan, says extremely small levels of DON will have an impact.
Dr. Denise Beaulieu-University of Saskatchewan:
CFIA recommends for all classes of swine that we don't go above one part per million, that's one milligram per kilogram, in swine diets.
We have done research where, in different diets and this has been for weanling pigs, we have gone a little bit above that and not seen too strong an effect, or effects were not too negative on feed intake of the weanling pig.
However one of the issues with these mycotoxins is, because we're working with such small levels, one milligram per kilogram, is one part per million, it's hard to know exactly how much you have in your sample because it's relatively difficult to get a good analysis of it.
One milligram per kilogram provides us with a good safety factor.
If they do suspect or do find mycotoxins and they're at a relatively low level, the best would be to mix that contaminated grain with some grain that does not contain mycotoxins.
So you dilute out the mycotoxins down to an acceptable level.
If the concentrations are so high that they don't feel confident in using that method, then it would be best not to feed it at all.
Dr. Beaulieu says, while the presence of mould is evidence there could mycotoxins present, that isn't definite proof but the presence of moulds should be viewed as a warning sign.
Source: Farmscape