Concerns about vomitoxin in corn were emerging at harvest time, especially in Ohio, but also in Indiana. Grain elevators and ethanol plants have been forced to rigorously test corn deliveries for vomitoxin. The issue might be worse than originally thought as Hoosier Ag Today continues to hear reports that some grain buyers are still rejecting numerous truckloads of corn delivered every day.
“It’s difficult to really pinpoint where it’s coming from,” says Purdue Extension Corn Specialist Dan Quinn on the latest Purdue Crop Chat podcast, found now at hoosieragtoday.com.
“There are different ear rots out there. You look at something like Gibberella or something like Aspergillus. Gibberella a lot of times is driven by late season, more moist, cool conditions. Aspergillus, that’ll show up in very stressed environments, droughty conditions.”
Quinn believes it could be a combination of how dry it was in June, especially in Central Indiana where Hoosier Ag Today is receiving these reports, and then the cool, wet conditions experienced in August and September.
Unfortunately, Quinn says there’s no good way to avoid this. It’s not like you can spray a fungicide or something to prevent it, and it’s really dictated by Mother Nature. You can look at hybrid ratings for ear rot tolerance, and he says that might help a little bit.
“The important part a lot of times that we see is if you are finding it in your fields, try to prioritize those fields at harvest, get it in the bin, get it dried down to 15% as quickly as possible… doing everything you can to make sure it doesn’t get even worse on you.”
Hear much more from Quinn, like how improper storage can exacerbate vomitoxin levels, in the Purdue Crop Chat below or wherever you listen to podcasts.
