Alltech identifies mycotoxin risk

MYCOTOXINS in dairy cows can be a big issue. A healthy ru-men can protect cattle against low levels of mycotoxins, but not all.

Mycotoxins can take many forms, from visual moulds, fungi or colour change on the feed face, to being totally invisible. Often, these hidden thieves are likely to be responsible for numerous undiagnosed health issues. In extreme cases, they can cause abortions, severe sc-ouring and sudden milk drop.

But, for the majority, any mycotoxin presence is more likely to be seen as a subtle problem: perhaps the cows are not milking as well as they should be, or the dung is a little loose and variable, or cell counts have crept up and fertility is falling away.

The diet of a dairy cow typically contains several concentrate and forage in-gredients. This increases the risk of exposure to multiple mycotoxins.

Forages (grazed and con-

served), fermented feeds and

by-products all represent a

significant risk to cattle de-pending on soil contaminat-ion, forage harvesting date, pit management, diet feed out and management, purchased feed origins and on-farm feed storage conditions.

Mycotoxins in forages (gr-ass, hays, silages, straw) present the greatest threat to cattle. A recent survey of grass silage produced this year through Alltech’s 37+ mycotoxin analytical services laboratory has highlighted a significant risk due to the level of mycotoxins present.

Results indicate an average of 4.5 mycotoxins per sam-ple, with 100 per cent of samples containing two myco-

toxins or more. The number of mycotoxins is one point; the level of each individual mycotoxin was of more concern.

The average level of pen-icillium mycotoxins was twice as high as what would normally be considered high risk, so there are challenges out there. What this means for dairy farmers is a real and evident threat to dairy cow health and performance.

Alltech’s predictor tool cal-

culates the effect the average sample above could have on milk yield and SCC. This is represented in the accompanying table.

An impaired immune system causes a lot of the issues related to the mycotoxins outlined above.

Immune-compromised animals will be at higher risk of infectious and metabolic diseases.

Penicillium mycotoxins can impact DMI, milk production, digestion, gut health, liver function and immune re-sponse.

In the event of the sym-ptoms mentioned above be-ing verified as the result of mycotoxin contamination, the most effective way of deal-

ing with the mycotoxin issue is to:

n Eliminate mould formation by improving storage and management;

n Not feed the affected forages/feeds and discard spoiled feed;

n Include Mycosorb A+ as part of the diet.

Mycosorb A+ is a yeast-based binder which will bind more efficiently to a greater range of mycotoxins, reducing mycotoxin absorption with-

out affecting vitamins and minerals.

It is a broad-spectrum binder that tackles mycotoxins as a whole rather than dealing with individual mycotoxins.

MycosorbA+ is proven by independent research, reacts rapidly inside the animal and has the ability to bind a high capacity of mycotoxins.