The vomitoxin fungus, which sickens livestock, is being found in corn sent to processors in the Midwest this spring, says Reuters. So far, discoveries are concentrated in Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa and parts of Michigan and the scope of the problem is not fully known.
The fungus, usually associated with warm and humid weather, apparently got its start from heavy rains before and during last fall’s harvest. “The issue was compounded by farmers and grain elevators storing corn on the ground and other improvised spaces, sometimes covering the grain piles with plastic tarps,” said Reuters. The fungus can multiply in wet grain.
The FDA limits the amount of vomitoxin that can appear in livestock and human food. Some types of processing, such as using corn to make ethanol, concentrates vomitoxin levels in co-products, making them less valuable. “U.S. farmers with clean corn are getting a price bump,” said Reuters. An ethanol plant in Indiana offered a 10-cent-a-bushel premium for corn that has little or no detectable vomitoxin.