The report provides Asian feed and livestock producers with the insights needed to optimise nutritional strategies in the coming months. It uses data from Alltech's harvest analysis programmes carried out in 2023.

"The Asia Import Risk Analysis once again reveals high diversity in mycotoxin risk and crop quality across the key grain growing regions," said Nick Adams, commercial director at Alltech. "In Europe, challenging weather conditions during the 2023 growing season have contributed to a notably high mycotoxin challenge. Analysis in the US has revealed a varied mycotoxin risk, with lower risk in the upper Midwest and higher risk in the East due to a combination of drought and untimely rains during the corn harvest. These findings underscore the importance of understanding the mycotoxin landscape and taking a proactive approach to mycotoxin management."

Key themes are identified in the 2023 harvest, by region.

    - There was a true North-South split in weather conditions during the growing season. Wetter conditions prevailed in the North, while further South and East, drier weather was more common;

    - Excessive rains in the North and West created severe challenges for crop growers there, and Fusarium toxins such as deoxynivalenol quickly proliferated in barley and wheat;

    - The European corn crop did not suffer the same drought and aflatoxin challenges as it had in recent years.
 

    - In the Southwest, there was a higher-than-usual fumonisin challenge due to a prolonged dry period;

    - Early-harvest corn saw a relatively low mycotoxin risk, but as harvest progressed, this picture began to change;

    - As the harvest continued eastward, the weather was wetter, and the levels of type B trichothecenes (the DON family of mycotoxins) increased and created a greater level of risk in corn grain.

    - Dry conditions across the prairies led to a reduced overall crop output compared to the previous year;

    - Fusarium toxins present the greatest challenge, with average DON levels of 1,882ppb detected in wheat and barley samples, leading to a general higher risk for this ingredient in pig diets.

    - A favorable growing season led to an increase in overall corn yield;

    - As with Canada, the higher than average levels of DON and zearalenone could create challenges when corn from Brazil is included in swine diets;

    - Zearalenone was present in 91% of samples tested, while the prevalence of DON was much lower;

    - Although fumonisins were widely detected, with almost 70% of samples containing this type of mycotoxin, the levels are lower than for other mycotoxin groups.

The report also contains risk assessments for individual species, such as broilers, grow/finish pigs and dairy cows.