Will Aflatoxin be a concern with cattle grazing cornstalks?
Good question. Corn crop residue is an excellent feed resource for cow/calf producers to use in their grazing programs for their beef cows. The upper level of Aflatoxins that breeding cattle can consume is 100 ppb. I think that there will be fields where the grain will contain that level of Aflatoxin. However, because of the drought, there will be less grain in the fields for cattle to consume. In addition, cattle will consume a diet while in the stalk field of primarily grain, husk, and leaf so if Aflatoxins are present in the grain, they will be diluted down. So the answer to your question is there will be some risk, but because the diet will not be an all grain diet, it seems to me there is a good chance that the Aflatoxin will be diluted to non-toxic levels.
