Researchers Examine Processing to Reduce Ergot Toxicity

Research being conducted by the University of Saskatchewan will help swine producers protect their pigs from the toxic effects of ergot contaminated feeds. In feeding trials conducted with piglets by the University of Saskatchewan, extreme processing of ergot contaminated feed using steam explosion reduced the amount of the ergot alkaloid and caused a shift in the alkaloid profile reducing its toxic effects.

 

Dr. Denise Beaulieu, an Assistant Professor Monogastric Nutrition in the University of Saskatchewan's College of Agriculture and Bioresources, says very low levels of ergot in the feed can impact productivity.

 

 

Unlike other mycotoxins which primary affect non-ruminants or pigs and chickens and things, ergot affects all classes of livestock, including ruminants like cows. CFIA has listed a concern about ergot in our feed as low one part per million, so at really small levels.

 

At those concentrations, we may or may not see affects at any stage. We would think that livestock producers, in years where we know there is contamination, we wouldn't encourage producers to feed contaminated grains, but in years there is severe contamination, we might want to take steps to prevent the effects of ergot and or other mycotoxins in case some of the grain they are feeding has these contaminants in it.

 

Some years a low level of contamination is in a lot of our freed grains. It varies from year to year, depending on the environment during the growing season.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.