Drought causes more harm to Illinois crops
Updated: November 2, 2012
DEWEY -- It's another hard hit for farmers in Illinois. The drought that already killed parts of their crop is now to blame for a new harm.
It's called aflatoxin. It's a fungus that grows on crops and it can be bad if ingested in large amounts. In some cases, it can even cause cancer. That's why some grain companies are now testing for it for the first time ever.
"We take in grain from farmers, store it, condition it and then ship it to the appropriate markets," said Roger Miller.
He works at Premier Cooperative. This year, he has to add another step.
"This is the first year that we've seen aflatoxin at this level in quite sometime," said Miller.
The fungus grows on corn kernels and isn't usually a problem, but this year's drought changed that.
"The molds are growing more rapidly on the kernels in conditions like we had where it's hot and humid," said Miller.
That's why he changed an office into a lab. It's where David Kieffer has been testing grain all fall.
"I'm going to say, 800 to 900 tests," said Kieffer.
Farmers bring in their loads of corn which are first put under a black light. If it glows, then it gets tested in the lab. If results are above FDA recommendations, then the entire load has to be thrown away.
"The lower the yield, the higher the tendency to have aflatoxin. So it's been kind of harder on those that's already been hit hard before," said Kieffer.
"Seven dollar corn, we would hate to have any customer throw it away. It's just too expensive of a commodity to do that," said Miller.
Miller says about 3% of the grain brought in has had aflatoxin, but none has had to be thrown away. Remember, the FDA says it is OK to eat in small amounts. Once it's tested, it goes to feed livestock or to food processors.
It's called aflatoxin. It's a fungus that grows on crops and it can be bad if ingested in large amounts. In some cases, it can even cause cancer. That's why some grain companies are now testing for it for the first time ever.
"We take in grain from farmers, store it, condition it and then ship it to the appropriate markets," said Roger Miller.
He works at Premier Cooperative. This year, he has to add another step.
"This is the first year that we've seen aflatoxin at this level in quite sometime," said Miller.
The fungus grows on corn kernels and isn't usually a problem, but this year's drought changed that.
"The molds are growing more rapidly on the kernels in conditions like we had where it's hot and humid," said Miller.
That's why he changed an office into a lab. It's where David Kieffer has been testing grain all fall.
"I'm going to say, 800 to 900 tests," said Kieffer.
Farmers bring in their loads of corn which are first put under a black light. If it glows, then it gets tested in the lab. If results are above FDA recommendations, then the entire load has to be thrown away.
"The lower the yield, the higher the tendency to have aflatoxin. So it's been kind of harder on those that's already been hit hard before," said Kieffer.
"Seven dollar corn, we would hate to have any customer throw it away. It's just too expensive of a commodity to do that," said Miller.
Miller says about 3% of the grain brought in has had aflatoxin, but none has had to be thrown away. Remember, the FDA says it is OK to eat in small amounts. Once it's tested, it goes to feed livestock or to food processors.
