ISSUE FOCUS 46 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE March 2024 For farmers and producers around the world, proactive risk management is vital to protecting animal health and winning the battle against mycotoxins in feed. They need comprehensive data on contaminants and their risks to decide whether mitigating mycotoxin measures, like feed additives, are necessary. Cargill's latest World Mycotoxin Report contains more than 350,0000 mycotoxin analyses captured annually across 150+ feed plants, on-farm samplings and storage locations. This year’s report includes forage samples for the first time, capturing 17,000+ forage mycotoxin analyses globally, which are especially important for ruminant mycotoxin risk evaluation. Cargill notes that it hosts the largest and most comprehensive mycotoxin contamination database in the world providing real-time information on the most problematic mycotoxins with their level of contamination and performance risk rates and species sensitivity when exposed to a given mycotoxin. "Healthy animals perform better and drive better productivity for farmers. Despite the lack of visible symptoms, mycotoxins can wreak havoc on animal health and performance under the surface, for example, by weakening the immune system and degrading nutrient absorption and vaccine response,” explains Gilles Houdart, global micronutrition and health solutions director for Cargill's animal nutrition business. “This wealth of information enables us to promptly understand regional, species-specific, and ingredient-related risks in real-time.” As a feed user and producer working alongside Cargill releases its World Mycotoxin Report better understand and address the threat. In a recent multi-contamination trial in broilers, we combined three mycotoxins identified as the most problematic ones based on our extensive analysis database – Deoxynivalenol and Fumonisin, both at 20mg/kg of feed; and Zearalenone at 2mg/kg. The results were unequivocal – these mycotoxins led to a 12.5% reduction in feed consumption and a 15% decrease in animal live weight at 35 days of age. To mitigate these adverse effects, we evaluated the effectiveness of Notox Ultimate at the recommended dose of 2.5kg/ mT for high mycotoxin contamination. Remarkably, we observed that Notox Ultimate significantly countered the negative impact on feed consumption and animal live weight. Delving deeper into the study, we explored additional parameters, revealing that mycotoxins increased the relative weight of the liver. However, the inclusion of Notox Ultimate successfully reduced it. Furthermore, mycotoxins adversely affected the villus height/crypt depth ratio, a critical indicator of intestinal health. Once again, Notox Ultimate intervened, partially restoring this ratio and showcasing its potential for preserving vital organs such as the liver and intestine. In another recent in-vivo test in broilers we studied the impact of mycotoxins on the intestinal microbiota. The findings were clear: mycotoxins disrupted the normal maturation of the intestinal microbiota, promoted the development of pathogenic bacteria, and harmed beneficial bacteria, negatively impacting performance and immune function. However, Notox Ultimate not only supported improved performance, but also showed beneficial effects on the intestinal microbiota of chickens fed mycotoxin-contaminated feed. All our trials highlight not only the deleterious effects of mycotoxins on poultry but also the remarkable benefits of Notox Ultimate in safeguarding poultry health and performance. As
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