Alltech reveals mycotoxin research

Alltech has built upon its 30 years of experience as a global animal health and nutrition company to develop its new management plan and product Mycosorb A+.

Animal feed industry consultants met at a dinner in Toowoomba recently to hear from Alltech about their initiatives to prevent mycotoxins.

It was a timely message for the Australian industry given the extreme weather events of the past three years, as wet weather is one of the main causes of mould growth, which produce mycotoxins.

Alltech mycotoxin management team global sales director Nick Adams, who flew over from the United Kingdom for the Toowoomba meeting, said as well as weather conditions, cropping cycles could also increase mycotoxin occurrence.

Mr Adams said the switch to minimum tillage and an increase of monocropping (such as wheat following wheat) made it easier for mould to repopulate the next plant.

"Any livestock - whether it's pigs, poultry or ruminants - can be affected if they consume mycotoxins," he said.

"If you take cattle as an example, things like dry matter intake, rumen function, fertility and immunity could be affected.

"Mycotoxins will affect some of the basic functions in the rumen and on-feed intake and a lot of them change the way in which protein is metabolised."

Mr Adams said the easiest way to understand mycotoxins was to think of penicillin. "Penicillin is a toxin - it kills bugs and it's an antibiotic - but it is produced by mould," he said. "There are other moulds out there that produce different types of compounds."