News

Concerns for corn mold

Although 2011 presented many challenges this year, Purdue University plant pathologist Charles Woloshuk says wide-spread corn mold is not one of them.  Woloshuk says even though growers battled unfavorable weather conditions throughout the growing season ear rot isn’t a wide-spread problem this year and this year’s weather was extreme enough to alarm a lot of producers to be on the lookout for Aspergillus ear rot which produces aflatoxin and possibly Fusarium ear rot which thrives in warm weather.

He notes even with this year’s weather, it doesn’t appear that is a problem.  Woloshuk says the fall weather pattern has a lot to do with the potential for ear rot.  For example, if we get tropical storms, which keeps the moisture on the ears, slows down drying and allows these molds to continue and get worse, producing even more toxin.

But, he says once the ear has dried, production of any toxin will slow if it is present.   Farmers who are concerned about grain quality should be sure to store corn properly and to make sure grain is dry in storage. They also can have grain samples analyzed through Purdue’s Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, http://www.addl.purdue.edu/ or 765-494-7440.