Cargill bolsters animal nutrition with real-time mycotoxin monitoring tools

USA- Cargill has developed a Mycotoxin Impact Calculator (MIC) to help farmers and producers address mycotoxin concerns in animal feed.

Farmers and producers worldwide need to be proactive in managing risks to ensure animal health and combat mycotoxins in feed. They require comprehensive data on contaminants and associated risks to determine the need for mitigation measures like feed additives.

Cargill’s global mycotoxin report compiles over 350,000 annual analyses from over 150 feed plants, on-farm samplings, and storage locations. This year’s report also includes forage samples for the first time, with over 17,000 globally captured forage mycotoxin analyses, which are particularly important for evaluating ruminant mycotoxin risk.

Cargill has the most extensive mycotoxin contamination database globally, providing real-time information on problematic mycotoxins, contamination levels, and their impact on animal performance and sensitivity.

Gilles Houdart, Cargill’s global micronutrition and health solutions director for animal nutrition, emphasizes the importance of healthy animals for optimal productivity and explains how mycotoxins can harm animal health and performance, even without visible symptoms, by compromising the immune system and hindering nutrient absorption and vaccine response.

With this wealth of data, Cargill can promptly assess regional, species-specific, and ingredient-related risks in real time. As a feed user and producer working closely with customers worldwide, Cargill has developed the Mycotoxin Impact Calculator (MIC) to address these concerns.

This in-house tool utilizes data-driven insights to help customers identify and mitigate mycotoxins, ultimately improving animal performance and boosting the bottom line.

Key findings in Cargill’s global mycotoxin report:

1) A slight decrease in overall mycotoxin pressure compared to the previous year, with 70% of samples surpassing the detection limit and 37% exceeding Cargill’s performance risk thresholds.

2) The top three mycotoxins that demand attention due to their prevalence and risk levels are Deoxynivalenol (DON), Fumonisin (FUM), and Zearalenone (ZEN). The past year saw a notable increase in FUM analyses surpassing performance risk thresholds, while both DON and ZEN experienced decreases.

3) Co-occurrence of multiple mycotoxins is also prevalent, with 78% of samples testing positive for three or more mycotoxins. 

“Our customers need real-time actionable data to help them make sound decisions for their business. Thanks to our data centralization efforts and decision-making tools, Cargill helps to characterize mycotoxin risk for each situation to adopt the appropriate solution,” adds the author of the report, Clement Soulet, Global Anti-mycotoxin Agent Category Manager for Cargill’s animal nutrition business.

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