Mycotoxins predicted to become more prevalent due to climate changes, will have greater impact on rumen function

Practically it is really difficult to control mycotoxin contamination when feed ingredients are bought by the feed manufacturer or a dairy farmer who prepares his own feed by buying different ingredients especially with grains like maize and jowar and the oil cakes. Field veterinarians are suggesting to mix toxin binders in the feed. Do you suggest any other methods to bind the toxins? Dr V N Viswanatha Reddy Former Professor Animal Reproduction, Veterinary College, Bangalore, India

the toxins espacially mycotoxins are pH dependent for their activity, and active in acidic pH, so sodium bicarbonate(baking soda) may b added not as toxin binder but as buffer.

I would like to give links related this subject: - Oguz H. A review from experimental trials on detoxification of aflatoxin in poultry feed. Eurasian J Vet Sci, 2011, 27, 1, 1-12 http://www.eurasianjvetsci.org/pdf/pdf_EJVS_540.pdf - Oguz H. Detoxification of aflatoxin in poultry feed: a review from experimental trials. Lohmann Information. Vol. 47 (2), Oct. 2012, Page 45

Scientists can assess the preventive efficacy and practical usability of feed additives in more detail by following the titles of articles, associate authors and/or materials and methods of related articles. For application in practice, focus on limiting AF contamination by optimizing harvesting and storage conditions should be stressed instead of expecting miracles from feed additives which have shown positive effects under experimental conditions.

charcoal at low levels can be used as a toxin binder.

First to identify the source i.e. ingredient of conce. and/or roughage part. If possible then exclude from the diet of ruminant. If within limit than use with toxin binder like HACAS or chacoal and prevent further accumulation by addition organic acids, MOS and other available product.

Aflatoxins: Climate change and biodegradation Nikolett Baranyi, Sa´ ndor Kocsube´ and Ja´ nos Varga Current Opinion in Food Science 2015, 5:60–66

there is a number of potential mycotoxin sequestering materials that need to be studied and put in use to shield animals (primary consumer) and human (secondary consumer) of mycotoxins by minimizing bioavailability through diets.