This week's U.S. Grains Council Chart of the Week shows a continued low incidence of aflatoxin in U.S. corn according to the Council's 2013/2014 Corn Export Cargo Quality Report. While the reports for all three years show low incidence of aflatoxin in U.S. corn, the levels in the 2013 crop are the lowest of the three.
As this chart shows, only 7.6 percent of tested samples had aflatoxin levels greater than the minimum level of detection (0.5 parts per billion) compared with 22.2 percent in 2012 and 14.1 percent in 2011.
In all three years none of the export samples tested above the 20 ppb limit for aflatoxins. This is one of many quality parameters reported in the Council's annual corn quality reports – one report each year with data from harvest and another report with data from export samples.
"Our export customers really appreciate the information provided in our corn quality reports," said USGC Chairman Julius Schaaf. "These reports supply a wealth of corn quality information that is not available from any other source."
All stakeholders in the corn value chain – seed companies, corn growers, grain marketers and handlers as well as U.S. corn export customers – are interested in understanding how aflatoxin infection is influenced by growing conditions and subsequent storage, drying, handling and transport of the grain as it moves through the U.S. corn export system. As the Council continues to publish yearly Export Quality Reports, more data will be available to assess trends, including aflatoxin infection influences, over time.
A full copy of the report is available here.