The corn that’s standing in constant light rains is growing mould and mycotoxins at a worrisome rate.
Crop advisors say that when farmers do get combines into the field, they should set wind levels high to blow the smaller and infected kernels out the back.
The infected kernels tend to be the smaller and lighter-weight ones at the tips of cobs.
The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is recommending that farmers store their toxin-infected corn until the province’s harvest is complete and grain elevators know how much blending they can undertake.
OMAFRA also says the corn can be cleaned with gravity-based or rotary screen type cleaners to help reduce DON to moderate levels.
The “resulting high-DON screenings will be lower volume and easier to deal with than the entire grain mass,” OMAFRA said.
Even ethanol production is a challenge this year because the distiller's mash that is marketed as feed will contain the DON that came with the kernels.
