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Mycotoxin Tolerance LevelsOver The Past Two Years Mycotoxin Contamination Has Been More Prevalent Due To The Stressed Crop Seasons

At Crystal Creek we would be veryhappy if we never had to sell a bag ofFuse 207 or Crystal Creek’s Mycotexagain because mycotoxins did notexist. If there were no such thing asmycotoxins everyone on the team(farmer, nutritionist and cows) wouldbe happier. Mycotoxins raise havocwith cows on any nutritionalprogram and can be extremelydetrimental to a farm. Fortunately,Fuse 207 and Crystal Creek’sMycotex fill the need for a sound andfunctional method in dealing withmycotoxins present in feedstuffs.

Over the past two years mycotoxincontamination has been moreprevalent due to the stressed cropseasons that we have had nationwide.Mycotoxins can plague a herd withpoor production, lower components,depressed immune function and poorherd health among many othereconomically disastrous issues.

There are 3 different strategies thatyou can apply to deal withmycotoxins in the ration:1. Don’t feed the contaminated

feedstuff.2. Dilute the contaminated feedstuff

to a level that is below tolerancelevel.

3. Utilize an adequate enzyme andbinder strategy to degrade andbind mycotoxins in the feedstuffs.

Fuse 207 and Crystal Creek’sMycotex are the most innovative andprogressive technology available todeal with mycotoxins in feedstuffson your farm. Fuse 207 provides ahighly concentrated source of yeastcell wall glucans that are known tobe effective in binding manymycotoxins. Harder to bind

mycotoxins, such as vomitoxin,cannot be bound because there arelimited attachment sites for thebinder to utilize. They must beopened up to expose binding siteswith enzymes, like those found inCrystal Creek’s Mycotex. Onceopened up, these mycotoxins can bebound with a functional materialsuch as Fuse 207.

As a Crystal Creek LivestockNutritionist I have seen mycotoxinproblems negatively affect manydairy operations. A herd willprogress very well onto our programwith overall increases in profitability,herd performance and herd healthand then get slammed withmycotoxin pressure when a newcontaminated forage or grain sourceis introduced into the ration.

Because of the high levels ofmycotoxins reported in feedstuffs inthe past two years, the FDA statedtolerance levels for vomitoxin infeedstuffs have been adjusted upwardsignificantly from 2 ppm to 5 ppm.We have run into a lot of producersthat see this FDA data implying thata vomitoxin level of 5 ppm or less indairy rations is acceptable. Throughour own on farm experience we havefound this to be off base. Animalswith vomitoxin levels in the totalration as low as 0.5 ppm haveexperienced 10 to 15 lb drops inproduction, and many other negativeherd health issues. Keep in mindvomitoxin tolerance levels are alsorelative to the presence of othermycotoxins in the ration. Thefollowing information is from a herdthat I have been working with, andthe charts show the dramatic impactvomitoxin can have on lactating

dairy cows. It also gives us a betterunderstanding of the level ofvomitoxin that we can effectivelydeal with when utilizing Fuse 207and Crystal Creek’s Mycotex.

The following graphs show thisprogress on a particular herd.Progress with this herd on theCrystal Creek Dairy NutritionModel was very good as there waslittle production drop, herd healthwas improving significantly,components were improving and theproducers income over feed costincreased significantly until wereached a higher vomitoxin level onApril 1. Up until that point we hadremoved undesirable ingredients inthe ration (Rumensin, Buffer,Bypass Protein, Fat) with littlechange in production level and apositive impact on components,herd health and foot health.

See Figures 1 & 2

On April 1 there was a change inforages with a positive TMR test forvomitoxin at 0.8 ppm, leading to a 12lb drop in milk production. Wetested individual ingredients in theration for vomitoxin and found thatthe new corn silage was the culprit.

On April 4 the contaminated cornsilage was diluted so that the totalration vomitoxin level was 0.4 ppmfrom 0.8 ppm in the TMR. Milkproduction recovered 4 lbs.

On April 7 the producer introducedCrystal Creek’s Mycotex into theration and again increased the cornsilage (because of inventory). Thevomitoxin level in the ration wentfrom 0.4 ppm to 0.6 ppm in the total

By Brian Hoffelt, B.S.

13www.crystalcreeknatural.com • Crystal Creek, Inc.

Figure 1

Figure 2

14 Crystal Creek, Inc. • 1-888-376-6777

ration. Milk production continued toincrease from this point 11 lbs (1 lbless than they were milking beforethe vomitoxin). This 11 lb increasein production occurred in less thanone month.

Overall we are able to cope withthe vomitoxin present in the rationvery well. It is very evident that theFDA guidelines of 5 ppm (relative tothis herd) were much above theactual tolerance level in the cows(when tolerance levels is defined asnot negatively impacting production,herd health, reproduction, etc.). Wehave typically seen a negativeresponse in dairy cows to vomitoxinlevels starting at 0.5 ppm. When thatlevel is diluted below the 0.5 ppmthere is a positive response in thecows. With Fuse 207 and CrystalCreek’s Mycotex in the ration we areable to better cope with these highervomitoxin levels.

The lactation ration isn’t the onlyplace where it is important tomonitor mycotoxin levels. Withoutmonitoring mycotoxin levels in thedry cow rations huge problems withthe transition to lactation can arise.Vomitoxin present in the dry cowration can lead to fat impacted livers,liver and other organ damage,retained placentas, uterine infectionsand suppressed immune function. Ifa dry cow is exposed to mycotoxinsat any time during the dry period shecan have a memory of that exposurewhen she calves (See DanLeiterman’s article, “Dry Cows HaveGood Memories” starting on thecover of this issue). According tothe attending veterinarian for thisherd, the livers in some of the cowswere severely damaged from fattyliver syndrome and mycotoxinexposure was the suspected culprit.After Crystal Creek’s Mycotex wasintroduced into the diet the liverswere much improved. A notableimprovement in liver health wasachieved as cows had more time onCrystal Creek’s Mycotex and Fuse

207. Until cows had been throughthe full 60 days of their dry period onCrystal Creek’s Mycotex and Fuse207 we had transition cow problemsincluding ketosis and milk fevers.

The milk butterfat recovery for thisherd was much slower than milkvolume recovery due to thelikelihood that rumen function and

fiber digestion have not yet returnedto normal. Milk components shouldcontinue to increase as the herdrecovers from mycotoxin exposure.

Overall, the take home message ofthis article should be thatmycotoxins are a huge problem fordairy herds, and they need to be dealtwith in a timely manner. There can

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be recovery in production and inherd health. However, recoverydepends on how fast the problem isdiagnosed and effectively dealt with.Commonly accepted levels ofvomitoxin and other mycotoxins inthe ration may be misleading. Lowlevels of mycotoxins can andtypically will impact a dairy herdnegatively. Many herds have seen an

increase of 9 to 11 lbs of productionalong with other positive herd healthimpacts, when mycotoxins are dealtwith properly.

In a perfect world we would nothave to deal with mycotoxins. Withcurrent levels of mycotoxins infeedstuffs however, it is good toknow that there are functional tools

available to work with. CrystalCreek works very hard to bringyou the most functional materialavailable to deal with the issues athand. We have experience in dealingwith mycotoxins and can workwith you to develop a plan specificto your needs. Call to talk with anexperienced Crystal CreekNutritionist today!