Are there concerns about mycotoxins when feeding DDGS?
The incidence of documented cases of mycotoxicosis from feeding DDGS to swine is extremely low. However, corn is susceptible to molds that can produce mycotoxins prior to harvest, as well as during storage. The primary mycotoxins of concern to swine are zearalenone, vomitoxin (deoxynivalenol), T-2 toxin, fumonisin, and aflatoxins. In the midwestern US, zearalenone and vomitoxin are the greatest risks. If corn containing mycotoxins is delivered to an ethanol plant for ethanol production, these mycotoxins are not destroyed or inactivated during the fermentation process and will be present in DDGS produced from this corn source. In fact, the concentration of mycotoxins in DDGS will be 2 to 3 times higher than the initial concentration in the grain because the removal of starch during the fermentation process concentrates all of the unfermentable portions of the grain that remain after fermentation. Ethanol plants are encouraged to monitor incoming corn for mycotoxins and reject loads that
