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Fusarium infected feed!

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    #1

    Fusarium infected feed!

    Charlie,

    I heard of a number of cases where hog producers have had prepared feed that has put their hogs off feed and caused big problems...

    Denials at first, then the biggest mess turned out to be from wheat cracks, total fusarium 17ppm! THe piggys were really sick on that junk...

    Is there any feed regs limiting the amount of fusarium/ergot maximum ppm in Alberta feed preperations?

    Not only will this hurt animals, but I would imagine the waste would be significantly higher... causing environmental contamination risk to increase as well...


    Corn is obviously just a small component in the fusarium issue, with screenings the biggest most concentrated infection source... I know screening pellets are being brought from Thunder Bay to Alberta all over the place in rail cars, is the AB gov demanding fusarium tests on these sreenings???

    Isn't this a much bigger problem than corn, as the screening pellets bring weed seeds and fusarium and are in many cases being fed on the ground in the field?
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    #2
    Just a quick response.

    Make sure you are separating the issue to its three parts. Fusarium graminearum - presence of the disease on seed/other things. Fusarium head blight - symptoms of the disease when you look at a wheat/barley grain sample. Mycrotoxins/toxins that are the result of the mold that can affect this grain (DON test).

    The later issue is what makes pigs sick. All grain should be under 1 ppm for hogs with 10 ppm the tolerance for cattle.

    Grain/by products that have been digested does not contain the pathagen fusarium graminearum. The issue is in spilled grain/other products that contain the pathogen and can potentially be spread on soil.

    AAFRD is working with the industry on protocols that will minimize the risk of spread of the disease. Three base ideas are:

    1) Use fusarium graminearum free seed.

    2) Take steps that minimize the contact of out province grain/by products that may contain this disease with soil (don't feed on ground, clean up spills, cover grain piles, etc).

    3) To highlight the above for cow calf, bunk feeding is a must (economics also work in reduced wastage) as is feeding in one area (economics also work here in terms of managing cow access to feed/making sure the bossy cows don't get extra supplies).

    4) Monitor all fields carefully in coming years that have been exposed to out of province grain. If the disease catches, you will have to take steps to remove the crop quickly and will not be allowed to grow a grain crop for at least 4 years.

    To use a canoeing example, we are going through rough waters in here on this issue with the grain farmer paddling in the front and the cattle farmer in the back (maybe the other way around). Everyone has to be paddling together or the canoe is likely to be upset. From personal canoeing experience, no one benefits from this. We have to work together.

    5) Pellets are an issue but more research is needed on the disease side. Heat kills the pathogen but I am not so sure how hot/long the exposure is needed.

    Comment

      #3
      Sorry for not reading your question properly.

      Right now (in most cases) it is buyer beware for DON - even corn. If I had a hog operation, I would demand 0.5 ppm or less in the contract for any feed ingredient or I would walk out the door to do business elsewhere.

      A note is that $185/t ($5/bu about) will buy you the best quality Alberta milling wheat. You can be assured of no fusarium in this product. Jim Gowan's comments on the Alberta Pulse Growers website provides a good indication of hog rations at current prices.

      http://www.pulse.ab.ca/gowans/economics.cgi

      Comment

        #4
        Charlie,

        I see WCE Peas at 165/t, could a person stand for delivery, what would total cost be???

        Isn't this the cheapest and best feed avaliable, or is the WCE Contract relevant at All???

        Comment

          #5
          There is no open interest in the Dec. pea contract so I will let you draw conclusions about relevance.

          http://www.wce.ca/market/daily/voloi/dfutures_voi.asp

          Contract specs.

          http://www.wce.ca/education/contractspecs/peas_f.asp

          Comment

            #6
            Charlie,

            It would be interesting to know how AAFC and the AAFRD folks came up with the field pea value, I guess the didn't use WCE futures values!

            Is the WCE Pea number a computer simulation, or how do they know what value to post???

            Comment

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