By Alison Robertson
Risk of ear rot and mycotoxins in hail damaged crops
Since the crop started grain fill, there have been several reports of hail damage to crops. Apart from shredding leaves, hail can bruise ears leaving them at risk for infection by ear mold fungi and consequently mycotoxin contamination.
Past research on the effect of hail damage on ear rot and mycotoxin contamination
On August 9, 2009, over 1 million crop acres in central Iowa were damaged by hail while the corn crop was at R1 to R3. Ear rot severity and mycotoxin severity were significantly greater in hail damaged fields compared to fields that were not damaged by hail1. Gibberella ear rot was the most prevalent ear rot, likely because conditions were favorable for the mold to develop, that is, cool and wet. Ear rot severity was a good predictor of vomitoxin (deoxynivalenol (DON)) and zearalenone contamination. Approximately 50 percent of the grain samples from hail-damaged fields were above FDA regulation levels.
Source : iastate.edu