Know Mycotoxins - Nutritonist : Poultry

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Factors affecting mycotoxin formation in the field
As temperature and moisture levels are key factors for fungal growth and subsequent mycotoxin production, the climate plays a key role in the occurrence of mycotoxins. Crop surveys show large variations in contamination levels from one year to another due to varying climatic conditions. However, in addition to climatic conditions, agronomic practices also have a pronounced effect on mycotoxin formation as they affect the presence of fugal spores in the field as well as fungal growth. Three key agronomic factors have been shown to affect mycotoxin presence and concentration significantly:

Crop presence and rotation: Monocultures or planting of closely related crops one after the other will enhance the risk of mycotoxin formation, as spores will transfer to the subsequent crop and thus allow fungal growth to establish quickly and strongly.
Soil cultivation: Ploughing harvest residues will reduce spore contamination of the subsequent crop and thus reduce fungal infestation and mycotoxin formation. No-till systems will enhance the risk.
Crop and crop variety: Crop varieties that are more resistant to fungal foliar diseases reduce fungal infection and thus mycotoxin formation of the crop.

Mycotoxins are generally very stable and will persist during storage as they are independent of storage conditions. As no efficient decontamination procedures are available today, most of the mycotoxins that are present at the time of harvest in a crop will reach the final animal diet during feed consumption.