Livestock Farmers Warned Over Toxin Risk in Feed Grains

Experts from Scotland’s Rural College are urging livestock farmers to beware of an increased risk posed by feed grain contaminated with ergot, a fungal disease that can be toxic to animals or humans.

Ergot is a naturally occurring fungus spread by spores in the spring. The fungus takes over individual grains in cereal seed heads which, as the crop reaches harvest, can be identified by their distinctive black colour. The experts, from the College’s SAC Consulting Division, said the cool and wet conditions in parts of Scotland when cereal flowers were open raised ergot levels this year.

Ergot is extremely poisonous to humans so farmers or staff handling affected grain should always wear gloves and a mask and be extremely careful with processing grain.

The organisation advised farmers to not feed contaminated grain if at all possible, but if unsure they should check levels by taking a dozen 1 kg grain samples from all over the heap, spreading these out over a sheet of newspaper and counting the number of ergots.

Any contaminated grain should be spread between as many animals as possible, should not be fed to breeding animals and should be unprocessed, as processing is thought to increase the danger – click here to read more.

In other news, UK milk deliveries were down more than 10 per cent in September compared to the same month last year, in stark comparison to the situation at the beginning of the year, levy board AHDB Dairy said this week.

The organisation said the fact that milk production has fallen below the normal range since the beginning of August for this year highlights the difficulties in the sector at present – read more.