[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":44},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-mikotoksin-hammadde-kabul-en":3},[4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20,22,24,26,28,30,32,34,36,38,40,42],{"p":5},"The harvest was wet, and corn left late in the field has started arriving at the mill. The quality officer samples every truck and checks aflatoxin with rapid test kits. Most results are clean, a few are close to the limit and one is clearly high. The queue at the weighbridge grows, drivers are waiting and the purchasing manager wants a decision now. Decisions made in these minutes can come back months later in a dairy plant's analysis report or in lost performance in a poultry house.",{"h2":7},"Why mycotoxins are a hard subject",{"p":9},"Mycotoxins are substances produced by certain moulds that grow in the field or in storage. Aflatoxin, deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, fumonisin and ochratoxin are the groups the feed industry meets most often. Each affects species differently. Pigs, for example, are very sensitive to deoxynivalenol and zearalenone, while poultry tolerate them better. In dairy cows aflatoxin is a special concern, because part of it passes into milk as aflatoxin M1. That is why the legal limits for dairy feeds are much lower than for other feeds.",{"p":11},"The real difficulty is that mycotoxins are not evenly spread within a lot. Mould growth is concentrated in a few small spots. A very small share of the kernels in a truck can carry most of the lot's total mycotoxin load. So a handful of corn from a single point does not show that the lot is clean, even if it tests clean.",{"h2":13},"Sampling matters more than the test",{"p":15},"In mycotoxin analysis, most of the error comes not from the lab but from sampling. Many sub-samples taken with a probe at different depths and points of a truck should be combined, the combined sample ground thoroughly, and the analysis sample taken from that ground mix. If the grinding step is skipped, the few grams that go into the test kit are still down to luck.",{"p":17},"Rapid test kits are valuable for deciding at the weighbridge, but they have limits. Each kit is calibrated for a specific mycotoxin and a specific range. In some ingredients, by-products such as DDGS for instance, matrix effects can skew the results. So results close to the limit, and a share of samples at regular intervals, need to be confirmed by a reference lab.",{"h2":19},"Where does a lot below the limit go?",{"p":21},"Take an example. The numbers are illustrative, and the regulations in force should be checked for the real limits. A lot of incoming corn measures 15 µg/kg of aflatoxin B1. In our example that is below the limit of 20 µg/kg that applies to the raw material, so the lot is legally acceptable. Which feed the corn goes into is a separate question.",{"p":23},"Assume a limit of 5 µg/kg in complete feed for dairy cows. If this corn goes into the dairy feed at 40 percent, the aflatoxin from the corn alone is 0.40 × 15, that is 6 µg/kg, and the limit is exceeded. Used at 60 percent in a broiler feed with a limit of 20 µg/kg, the same corn contributes 9 µg/kg and stays comfortably below the limit. Keeping this lot out of dairy feeds and directing it to poultry feeds is both legal and sensible.",{"p":25},"A very clear line needs to be drawn here. Mixing an ingredient that exceeds the legal limit with clean material to bring it below the limit is prohibited in many countries, the EU included. The direction in the example above is about keeping a lot that is already below the legal limit away from feeds with a lower limit. A lot above the limit should be rejected or sent down another route the regulations allow.",{"h2":27},"Tracking mycotoxins in formulation",{"p":29},"Doing this by hand every time raises the risk of error. The safer route is to define the mycotoxin as a nutrient in the matrix and set a maximum for each feed. When the lot's analysis goes into the matrix, OptiFormula limits this corn in dairy feeds to an inclusion that stays within the limit, or leaves it out altogether. In poultry feeds it uses the corn against an internal target well below the legal limit.",{"p":31},"Internal targets matter. Using material right up to the legal limit is technically possible, but given the uncertainty in sampling, there is always a chance that the measured value is lower than the real one. Many mills work with an internal target of around half or two-thirds of the legal limit. It should also be remembered that when several mycotoxins are present at once, their effects can reinforce each other.",{"h2":33},"Binders and storage",{"p":35},"Mycotoxin binders give some protection against certain mycotoxins, but they are not equally effective against every one, and they are not a licence to exceed legal limits. Using a binder is an extra measure to be considered together with direction and internal targets.",{"p":37},"Storage matters as much as intake. Clean corn that has been accepted can start moulding again within a few weeks in a damp, warm silo. Monitoring silo temperature, aeration and using high-moisture lots first all reduce this risk. After harvest, silo checks should be as regular as intake checks.",{"h2":39},"Keeping records",{"p":41},"Recording each lot's analysis, its supplier, the silo it went into and the feeds it was used in makes it possible to trace back when a problem appears. When a dairy plant raises an aflatoxin M1 alert, there is a big difference between finding in an hour or in a week which corn lot went into which dairy feed in recent weeks.",{"p":43},"In OptiFormula, lab and rapid test results can be imported into ingredient analyses, and mycotoxins can be limited by feed like any other nutrient. Formula version history also shows which formula was solved on which date with which ingredient analyses. Carrying the decision made at the weighbridge through formulation and into the records with the same information is the firmest way to manage mycotoxin risk.",1794234580369]