For farmers and producers around the world, proactive risk management is vital to protecting animal health and winning the battle against mycotoxins in feed. They need comprehensive data on contaminants and their risks to decide whether mitigating mycotoxin measures, like feed additives, are necessary. Cargill's world mycotoxin report contains more than 300,0000 mycotoxin analyses captured annually across 150 feed plants, on-farm samplings and storage locations. Cargill hosts the largest mycotoxin contamination database in the world, providing info on the most problematic mycotoxins with their level of contamination and performance risk rates and species sensitivity when exposed to a given mycotoxin.

"Healthy animals perform better and drive better productivity for farmers. Cargill's experts around the world monitor mycotoxin risk in real time through its annual global analysis. Our team of animal nutrition experts helps farmers identify and mitigate animal health risks caused by mycotoxins," says Gilles Houdart, global additive category director for Cargill's animal nutrition business.

The hidden risk to animal health
Despite the lack of visible symptoms, mycotoxins can wreak havoc on animal health and performance under the surface. Mycotoxins may, for instance, weaken the immune system and degrade nutrient absorption and vaccine response. If symptoms appear from mycotoxin exposure, it's an indication that the animal has been exposed to high levels of mycotoxins for a long time, and the producer faces costly measures to reverse the impact.

Key findings in Cargill's world mycotoxin report:

Global trends:

1) Contamination is the rule: In 2022, 75% of the 300,000+ mycotoxin analyses conducted were positive and above detection limits. Also, the more mycotoxins you test for, the more you will find. For example, of samples tested for six mycotoxins, 84% were positive for four or more mycotoxins.

2) Performance risk rates increased. Beyond the number of positive samples, it is important to consider contamination levels that may create a risk of reduced performance. For example, in 2022, 39% of analyses were above Cargill Performance Risk Threshold, representing a 4% increase from 2021.

3) Mycotoxins to Watch: Fumonisin (FUM), Vomitoxin (DON) and Zearalenone (ZEN) remain the top three mycotoxins of concern above Cargill performance risk thresholds. Over the past year, ZEN analyses above performance risk increased to 51% while FUM and DON remained elevated at 40% and 62%, respectively.

In addition to the risk management data provided in the report, Cargill can help to answer this critical question: What is the right approach to manage mycotoxins for my operation?

As a user and producer working alongside customers around the globe, Cargill developed a first-of-its-kind Mycotoxin Impact Calculator (MIC) to address this question. This in-house tool is the latest in Cargill's toolbox to help us and customers identify and mitigate mycotoxins with data-backed insights to maximize performance and outcomes for animals and producers' bottom line.

"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," said the author of the report, Clement Soulet, global additive category manager for Cargill's animal nutrition business.

The complete Cargill world mycotoxin report for 2022 can be found at Mycotoxin.com.