Novus: Championing livestock health through the effective use of mycotoxin binders
At Novus International's mycotoxin seminar in Shanghai, Dr. David R. Ledoux, animal nutrition professor at the University of Missouri, gave a presentation entitled "Impact of mycotoxins on swine health and possible solutions". Thereafter, Dr. Ledoux shared his views on how to best manage mycotoxin-induced animal health problems.
Dr. David R. Ledoux, Professor of Animal Nutrition at the University of Missouri
How do developed nations manage mycotoxin related issues compared to developing regions like China and Southeast Asia?
First, the way mycotoxins are produced in developed and in developing countries are rather different, mainly due to differences in storage conditions. Developed countries can control temperature and humidity at a specific level, whereas storage conditions in developing countries are relatively crude. Hence, higher levels of toxins are generated during storage in developing countries than in developed countries, be it in raw materials or feed products.
In terms of the use of mycotoxin binders, indeed control in the United States is relatively more stringent than in developing countries, and the monitoring of their use is much better than developing countries.
So in the United States, mycotoxin binders are usually chosen with discretion, and the application of different products for different toxins is more targeted. As the tools for monitoring are relatively less developed in developing countries, more visual judgment is used, resulting in lower effectiveness in the use of mycotoxin binders.
From your work experiences in Southeast Asia and South Asia such as in Thailand and India, does the tropical rainy season and hot and humid conditions result in greater need for mycotoxin binders?
Indeed, in countries like Thailand and India, higher humidity and temperatures are observed during the rainy season, and mycotoxin levels in raw materials will be higher. The main sector in India is poultry production, thus T2 toxin and ochratoxin are the most relevant toxins. Since Thailand has relatively more hog production, zearalenon and vomitoxin have the greatest impacts. I think that from the point of view of weather conditions such as temperature and humidity levels, these countries will indeed use more mycotoxin binders.
In developing countries like China, there is a greater proportion of small and medium-sized producers. They tend to believe that mycotoxin binders only serve as a placebo - they worry if things should go wrong if they don't use them; yet they don't seem to see the effect when they use them - what is your view of this mentality?
Based on my visit to China these few days, I have come to understand the actual situation in China. In fact, apart from the small and medium-sized producers, we have visited some large producers, and they have not conducted many animal experiments.
In the United States, the level of intensification is higher, so in the choice of raw materials, producers have a greater say; in China, compared with some of the bigger companies, small producers take a passive role in their choice of raw materials. I would tend to recommend routinely adding mycotoxin binders, at a safe dosage, to prevent economic losses due to mycotoxin contamination. Because to small and medium-sized producers, the death of one or two hogs is a very big loss.
Also, small and medium-sized producers maybe unclear about which types of mycotoxins are affecting their livestock. In this case, in the event of uncertainty, my advice is the routine addition of mycotoxin binders.
In many countries, some research institutes or companies like Novus will publicly share data of their trials, as an industry reference. In fact, big Chinese companies also conduct trials, but the sharing of data is relatively less frequent. If there is a company or association that can take the lead in sharing data within the industry, everyone will be clearer about the situation of mycotoxin contamination.
Chinese suppliers offer montmorillonite for under RMB20/kg, but more effective toxin binders sell for RMB30-RMB40/kg. How do you sell high-end toxin binders in such cost conscious markets?
This is also one of the main purposes of my trip to China. Through interviewing some companies, I have found that in terms of product application, there is still a degree of "blindness". Just like what you have said, many customers are choosing cheaper clay products.
There are a million types of clay, but not all are suitable for use as mycotoxin binders. Not only do some have only mediocre adsorption ability, they also have an impact on production. My view is that companies which are at the research forefront should promote the technological and research and development aspects of their products, disseminate relevant information to more customers, and educate them on the correct use of mycotoxin binders, so that they do not blindly choose products based on price.
In China, using toxin binders boosts costs at a time when high feed prices have caused hog farms to suffer large losses. How do you overcome this challenge?
Indeed high feed prices will directly affect productivity. The United States previously had such a problem, when a large quantity of corn went to ethanol production, causing corn prices to rise globally. I do not recommend stopping using mycotoxin binders, as it is necessary. My advice is to find alternative raw materials to solve the problem of rising raw material prices.
It seems there is consensus on the addition of mycotoxins binder in sow feed. On one hand the breeding time for sows is long and on the other, sow performance can directly affect the quantity and quality of piglets, so producers are all willing to use mycotoxins binder. But for fattening pigs, firstly because of the short breeding time; and secondly because the effects are not obvious, usage is not common. What is your view of this difference?
The usage of mycotoxins binder in sow farms is relatively common, on one hand as you have said, because of the long breeding time, and on the other, sow performance can directly affect the quantity and quality of piglets, indicating that breeders do know the effects of adding anti-mould agents.
So, for the fattening of pigs, the core issue is about how to let breeders question if mycotoxins are already affecting their productivity. Once they are aware, they will begin to think of a solution. So, in terms of achieving productivity, there needs to be guidance to raise producers' vigilance towards mycotoxins.
There are some experienced producers who use their gut feel - when they feel that corn quality is good, they will either not add or reduce the quantities added; when corn quality is poor they increase the amounts added. There are even some customers who buy only the best corn, instead of adding mycotoxin binders. On this, what is your comment?
For the production industry in some countries in Europe and the United States, there are databases which collect production information of different companies. As producers, through these data and information, you can compare yourself against others in the industry, so whether one adds or not, the difference is clear for others to see - I know that many Chinese companies are starting to build up similar databases.
As for what you mentioned about deciding whether or not to add mycotoxin binders, or how much to add, based on the quality of corn, that is not right. First, the level of mycotoxin cannot be seen from the quality of corn, and if less mycotoxin binder is added than required, the mycotoxin cannot be completely adsorbed, thus affecting productivity.
Also, there is a need to consider the local mycotoxin problem when determining the amount of mycotoxin binder to add. For example drought conditions can cause very high aflatoxin levels, while high humidity can result in very high vomitoxin levels. So based on changes in weather conditions, one should add mycotoxin binders accordingly to raw materials in the affected locality. There are some experienced producers who will diligently record their productivity, and add accordingly.
Currently there are some mycotoxin binder products in the market with Chinese herbs added, which claim that apart from adsorbing mycotoxins, they can protect and nourish the liver. What is your view of this type of products?
Indeed I've seen such products. If the product claims have been experimentally proven, I would recognise such products.
Can mycotoxin binders boost the performance of dairy cattle and aquaculture species?
For ruminants, we have done less research. The rumen of ruminants contains a large quantity of microorganisms which can degrade certain mycotoxins. But there is a special case where ruminants are particularly sensitive to aflatoxin. For example in dairy cattle, aflatoxin has a 1-2% conversion rate to M1 toxin which cannot be degraded and has a huge impact on the productivity of dairy cattle. As a result, for feed forage like alfalfa, large dairy companies will calculate the M1 toxin levels in milk based on the conversion rate of aflatoxin present in the feed forage.
In the United States, there is also a high regard for this problem, and their approach is to limit the levels of alfatoxin within 20 ppb. There are two methods: one is adding mycotoxin binders, another is through the method of dilution. So, whether in China or the United States, such a problem exists. In Texas where the feed quality is rather poor, control over M1 toxin is stricter.
For the entire aquaculture industry, lesser research on the influence of mycotoxins has been done. In most reports I have seen, the main toxin responsible is aflatoxin. In any case, because everything boils down to raw materials in feed, the problem of mycotoxins will exist.
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