Grain imports are an essential part of the Asia-Pacific feed landscape. As regional feed production continues to expand, imported corn, wheat, barley, and their byproducts have become central to meeting demand across poultry, swine, dairy, and aquaculture systems. Alongside the benefits of scale and availability, however, comes a persistent challenge that feed manufacturers and nutritionists across the region know well: mycotoxin risk.
What has changed in recent years is not the presence of mycotoxins, but their complexity. Data from the Alltech 2025 Asia Import Risk Analysis reinforces a trend that has been building for some time. Imported raw materials rarely present a single mycotoxin issue. Instead, they arrive with multiple toxins occurring together, often at moderate levels that may not trigger immediate alarms yet still exert a measurable biological impact on animals over time.
Trends and challenges in global sourcing
One of the defining characteristics of the APAC market is the diversity of sourcing. A single feed mill may handle grain from Europe, North America, Canada, and Latin America within the same quarter. Each origin brings its own contamination pattern, shaped by climate, agronomic practices and harvest conditions.
In Europe, recent seasons have demonstrated the influence of prolonged rainfall and delayed harvests, particularly in northern and northwestern regions. These conditions have favored Fusarium development in small grains, with wheat and barley frequently carrying deoxynivalenol (DON) alongside other trichothecenes and emerging mycotoxins. Corn from Central and Southern Europe tells a different story, where aflatoxins, fumonisins, and ochratoxins appear more consistently. For buyers in Asia-Pacific, these contrasts underline the importance of understanding not just the ingredient, but its origin.
Corn sourced from the United States continues to play a major role in APAC diets, yet its mycotoxin profile remains closely tied to regional weather patterns. Shifts between dry and wet conditions across growing areas have driven variability in Fusarium toxins such as fumonisin and DON. What stands out in the latest analysis is the near-universal presence of emerging mycotoxins alongside these more familiar groups. While these compounds may not be explicitly regulated, they contribute to intestinal stress, immune modulation, and reduced resilience, particularly in young or high-performing animals.
Grain from Canada presents a similar Fusarium-driven challenge. Wheat and barley show meaningful DON levels, which is especially relevant for pig diets, where feed intake and gut health are sensitive indicators. Zearalenone, though it is observed less consistently, remains a consideration when corn is included, particularly in breeding animals.
In Latin America, strong corn yields have supported export availability, but mycotoxin risk has not disappeared. Brazilian corn frequently shows a high prevalence of zearalenone, often accompanied by fumonisins. Even when average concentrations appear manageable, their interaction with other contaminated ingredients can amplify biological effects once they are incorporated into complete diets.
Rising usage of corn and its byproducts
The greatest leverage point for mycotoxin risk in APAC formulations often lies in corn byproducts. Economic pressure has driven increased inclusion of DDGS, corn gluten meal, and related materials across the region. These byproducts offer nutritional and cost advantages, but they also concentrate mycotoxins relative to the parent grain. Historical and current data consistently show that multiple mycotoxins are present in virtually all samples, often in combinations that challenge gut health, nutrient absorption, and immune function. Small changes in inclusion rate can therefore have a disproportionate impact on total dietary risk.
Practical management of a complex challenge
From a practical nutrition standpoint, the issue is rarely about eliminating mycotoxins altogether. In an import-dependent region, that is unrealistic. The focus instead shifts to managing cumulative exposure across the ration, accounting for species sensitivity, production stage, and environmental stressors such as heat. Monogastric animals typically show the effects first, through reduced feed intake, poorer feed efficiency, and increased susceptibility to secondary challenges. Ruminants may buffer some toxins through rumen function, but that protection is not absolute, particularly under high production pressure.
As a result, mycotoxin management in Asia-Pacific has evolved toward a more integrated approach. Routine testing remains a cornerstone, but its value lies in how results inform purchasing decisions, formulation strategies, and risk mitigation.
Mycosorb® Evo and Mycosorb® A+ Evo: The next generation of mycotoxin binders
Broad-spectrum mitigation tools are also increasingly used as part of this framework, not to address a single toxin but to help manage the combined challenge presented by multiple mycotoxins, including emerging compounds.
In response to this need, Alltech has introduced its next generation of mycotoxin binders, Mycosorb® Evo and Mycosorb® A+ Evo. These advanced solutions are formulated using components derived from yeast and bacteria (and, in Mycosorb A+ Evo, algae as well), enabling them to bind multiple mycotoxins with high efficiency. By delivering broad-spectrum protection, these next-generation binders help support diet stability and safeguard animal performance despite the increasing variability in raw material quality.
The outlook for Asia-Pacific
Looking ahead, the drivers of mycotoxin risk in the region are unlikely to ease. Climate variability, long supply chains and greater reliance on byproducts all point toward continued complexity. The message from the Alltech 2025 Asia Import Risk Analysis is therefore a practical one: mycotoxins should be treated as a routine nutritional consideration, not an occasional crisis. Feed businesses that embed testing, informed sourcing, and effective mitigation into everyday practice will be better positioned to safeguard animal health, performance, and profitability in the years ahead.
- Dr. Ghazanfar Naseer, Regional Technical Manager, Ruminants and Mycotoxin
