AFLATOXIN?
DRIER WEATHER MAY LEAD TO INCREASE IN
AFLATOXIN DISCOUNTS COME HARVEST
T
By Lindsey Bowers
he drier conditions already have many of us curious
whether we will see the presence of Aflatoxin this
harvest. These conditions also open up the poten-
tial for an increase in overall levels this year. In
the last three years, we have handled less than 10
percent of levels ranging between 20-300 PPB. This is a huge
improvement from previous years. We credit much, if not all,
of this to the use of Aflaguard, as well as other fungicides and
earlier maturing varieties. Unfortunately, we understand that
with tighter margins and less than ideal weather conditions,
Aflaguard was not as widely used this year. Our program
for testing, handling, marketing and discounting corn will
remain the same as always.
Since 2011, we have been certified by the Office of the Texas
State Chemist using the One Sample Strategy. This means
that our employees have been trained and tested by Office of
the Texas State Chemist inspectors to properly sample and
test corn for Aflatoxin. In addition, our supplies and equip-
ment have met Office of the Texas State Chemist guidelines
and have been inspected for quality assurance. Throughout
the season, daily logs are maintained, surprise inspections oc-
cur, and samples are sent off to compare United Ag and Office
of the Texas State Chemist results. The program guidelines we
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follow with One Sample Strategy allow us to use the results,
as well as the Office of the Texas State Chemist and RMA. We
are authorized to handle submitted samples from insurance
agents and provide certificates for levels over 20 PPB Aflatox-
in for insurance use.
We test every load once and base both our handling and
discounts on the results. Loads over 20 PPB are kept in separate
bins and marketed accordingly. Loads over 300 must be rejected
based on Office of the Texas State Chemist program guidelines.
United Ag issues Aflatoxin discounts as the market war-
rants during harvest as a tool to best manage risk associated
with handling high Aflatoxin corn. At the end of the market-
ing year, any discounts not taken from United Ag are rebated
back to our producers. In essence, United Ag discounts only
what we are discounted. The last five plus years we have rebat-
ed 80 plus percent of Aflatoxin corn back to our producers.
Quality concerns that result in discounts to our producers
are always evaluated with grave concern. Our goal in the
grain department is to pay our producers the most possible
for their crop while managing our risk levels. We do believe
the rebate programs have succeeded at accomplishing this
goal. Though we will continue to utilize the rebate programs,
we highly encourage producer’s to use practices that minimize
the presence of Aflatoxin.