National Corn Growers Association Mycotoxin Task Force Chairman Scott Averhoff met with Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-Texas), chairman of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Subcommittee on Appropriations, in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to discuss funding for aflatoxin research conducted by the Agricultural Research Service.

NCGA Seeks Increase in Aflatoxin Research Funding (5-3-06)

Scott Averhoff, chairman of the National Corn Growers Association’s (NCGA) Mycotoxin Task Force, was in Washington, D.C., this week in anticipation of the FY2007 Agricultural Appropriations markup and to meet with members of the House Appropriations Committee to seek an increase in aflatoxin research dollars.
 
“NCGA and other members of the Multi-crop Aflatoxin Elimination Working Group are seeking $1.25 million in federal funding to support the project ‘Preharvest Elimination of Aflatoxin’ administered by the Agriculture Research Service,” said Averhoff. “Corn growers see millions of dollars lost in sales every year because of the impact aflatoxin has on our crops. We are strongly advocating increased research for all of the affected crops.”
 
Aflatoxin is produced by the Aspergillus family of molds, and is most prevalent in corn, cotton, peanuts and tree nuts. It can be caused by several vectors, but is most commonly related to drought-stressed corn followed by periods of high humidity. While aflatoxin is most common in the South, northern corn growers also experience aflatoxin infestations. 
 
According to the Agriculture Research Service, corn processing compounds aflatoxin levels in coproducts, making infested corn unsuitable for use. For example, levels of aflatoxin are increased during ethanol production by up to three times the level found in grain, thus causing high levels in the dried distillers grains that are used for livestock feed and export.

“We are working towards preharvest elimination of aflatoxin as a long-term solution," Averhoff said. "However, in the short-term, we must find a means to remediate corn infested with aflatoxin, as well as a potential market for that corn.” 

NCGA noted research into commercially usable corn inbreds and hybrids with low aflatoxin concentration in grain, the evaluation of aflatoxin resistance in transgenic corn with RNAi-silenced expression, breeding multiple stress-tolerant corn to reduce aflatoxin contamination, development of novel markers for resistance to aflatoxin contamination, and the development of atoxigenic fungus strains is already being conducted on corn. However, Averhoff stresses more research and funding is still needed.
 
The FY2007 Agricultural Appropriations bill is to be mark-up in subcommittee today.