MANAGING AFLATOXIN IN CORN

SCOTT AVERHOFF, CHAIRMAN

DAVID GIBSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

OUR EXPERIENCES

• 1998 AS ELEVATOR MANAGER• 1998 AS GROWER• MEMBER OF STATE CHEMIST ADVISORY

BOARD• 2005 EXPERIENCES WITH RMA• EXPERIENCES WITH INSURANCE

COMPANIES• $0.25 PER BUSHEL CORN

PRE-HARVEST

• MANAGE CROP TO REDUCE STRESS• USE BIO-CONTROLS, AKA

ATOXIGENICS– SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE AFLATOXIN

CONTAMINATION BY COMPETITIVE DISPLACEMENT OF AFLATOXIN-PRODUCING STRAINS

LABELED PRODUCTS

• AFLA-GUARD® A SYNGENTA® PRODUCT

• AF 36 – ARIZONA COTTON RESEARCH AND PROTECTION COUNCIL– NOT LABELED IN OKLAHOMA

• BOTH PRODUCTS HAVE SHOWN CONSISTENT EFFICACY

• MUST BE APPLIED AS A PREVENTATIVE

POST-HARVEST

• ERRATIC TEST RESULTS• PRIMARY CAUSE MOST LIKELY DUE TO

ERRATIC DISTRIBUTION OF AFLATOXIN IN A GIVEN LOT OF CORN

• SAMPLING– MAINTAIN RATIO OF FINES/WHOLE GRAIN

• CLEANING EQUIPMENT BETWEEN SAMPLES• IS TEST CALIBRATED FOR LEVEL

IDENTIFIED?• GRIND WHOLE SAMPLE/MIX THOROUGHLY

GROWERS ACTIONSAT HARVEST

• FIELD TEST• CONTACT YOUR INSURANCE AGENT IF

YOU THINK YOU HAVE A PROBLEM• YOUR INSURANCE AGENT HAS TO TURN

EVERYTHING OVER TO CLAIMS ADJUSTOR• BE CAUTIOUS OF LEAVING FIELD STRIPS• BE CAUTIOUS OF RANDOM EAR SAMPLING• AGENT IS REMOVED FROM THE

SETTLEMENT PROCESS

BE AWARE OF…

• HIGH NIGHTTIME TEMPERATURES• MOISTURE EVENTS AT HARVEST• SAMPLE COLLECTION• TYPE OF TEST EQUIPMENT• CLEANLINESS OF TEST THROUGHOUT

PROCESS• HOW SAMPLES ARE STORED AND

TRANSPORTED, IF TESTING IS DONE AT ANOTHER LOCATION

HARVEST TESTING

• OFFICE OF THE STATE CHEMIST (OTSC) ONE TEST STRATEGY, ACCEPTED BY RMA, REGULATORY AND BUYING ENTITY

• HTTP://OTSCWEB.TAMU.EDU/RISK/ONESAMPLE

• ADOPTED DUE TO OTSC, TCPB AND TEXAS FARM BUREAU EFFORTS

• BENEFITS GROWERS BY MATCHING REGULATORY SAMPLES WITH BUYER AND CROP INSURANCE

• BENEFITS ELEVATORS BY MATCHING THEIR SAMPLES WITH REGULATORY SAMPLES

HOW IT WORKS

• OTSC CERTIFIES WITH BUYING POINT• TRAINS WORKERS ON SAMPLING• TRAINS WORKERS ON TESTING• VERIFY SCALE• VERIFY TEST USED FOR ACCURACY• SENDS SAMPLES FOR CALIBRATING

TEST• GETS TEST FROM FACILITY TO VERIFY

TEST

TEXAS ANALYSIS

FUTURE

• WE CURRENTLY HAVE SOME OKLAHOMA MEMBERS IN THE CORN PRODUCERS ASSOCIATION OF TEXAS

• AVAILABLE, AS NEEDED, TO ASSIST GROWERS

• BUYERS• RMA/CROP INSURANCE• SOURCE OF MATERIALS AND

INFORMATION• REGULATIONS/REGULATORY AGENCY

CONTACT INFORMATION

• SCOTT AVERHOFF– SAVERHOFF@TEXASCORN.ORG

• DAVID GIBSON– DGIBSON@TEXASCORN.ORG

• WWW.TEXASCORN.ORG• 806.763.2676