What you can’t see can be hurting you and your animals. Mycotoxins are an unseen, but all-too-real, threat to your dairy herd’s health—and your profitability.

That may sound alarmist until you consider the many daunting challenges mycotoxins create—everything from suppressing immunity and reducing nutrient utilization to altering reproductive performance, contaminating milk and negatively impacting feed consumption.

Mycotoxins are a widespread problem that’s not limited to a single country or region, either: Studies show that three out of every four ration ingredients globally are contaminated by one or more mycotoxin.¹ And in the U.S., researchers estimate that three mycotoxins alone—aflatoxins, fumonisins and deoxynivalenol—cost U.S. livestock producers $900 million every year.²

With statistics like these, it’s easy to imagine the benefits you could enjoy by preventing moldy feed from eating away at your animals’ health and your profits. It’s time to take action—provided, of course, you can find a practical, cost-efficient way to do it.

Protecting your herd regardless of feed source.

By now it’s clear that mycotoxins should always be on your radar regardless of harvest, location or how well you manage your feeding program.

But how can you best address this ubiquitous, profit-stealing threat? One way would be to know beyond a doubt that every feed source you choose is entirely free of mycotoxins. Trouble is this isn’t always possible—at least not with the 100% certainty that would be needed.

What if you could protect your herd and its health in the face of mycotoxin threats? Having options that could do that would give you confidence that you’re doing everything possible to protect your bottom line.

Research-proven RFCs.

Adding Refined Functional Carbohydrates™ (RFCs™), found in CELMANAX™ and BG-MAX™, to the ration can help your cows take on mycotoxins and win, regardless of feed source.

And that’s more than just opinion. In vitro studies have demonstrated that RFCs can prevent gut cytotoxicity caused by a variety of mycotoxins, as well as forage extracts containing them (Fig. 1).³

Feed ingredients containing Refined Functional Carbohydrates have proven to be an exceptionally efficient way to protect against gut damage—in ways that work better than other tested yeast products (Fig. 2).⁴

Research has also demonstrated success of Refined Functional Carbohydrates in reducing carryover of aflatoxin M1 in milk (Fig. 3)⁴.

Promoting immunity with every bite.

By giving your cows the edge that they need against mycotoxins with every bite of feed they take, you can focus less time and resources on feed and more on other ways to optimize productivity. And you can accomplish all that without relying on multiple feed ingredients since RFCs are available in a single product formulation.

It’s always a good time to manage the unseen, profit-stealing threats to your animals—and RFCs can help you do just that. To learn more about giving your herd an edge against mycotoxins, contact your ARM & HAMMER representative today.

1 Pinotti L, et al. Mycotoxin Contamination in the EU Feed Supply Chain: A Focus on Cereal Byproducts Toxins 2016;8(2):45.

2 Grenier B, Applegate TJ. Modulation of Intestinal Functions Following Mycotoxin Ingestion: Meta-Analysis of Published Experiments in Animals. Toxins 2013;5(2):396-430.

3 Baines D, Erb S, Lowe R, Turkington K, Sabau E, Kuldau G, Juba J, Masson L, Mazza A, Roberts A. A prebiotic, CELMANAX, decreases Escherichia coli O157:H7 colonization of bovine cells and feed-associated cytotoxicity in vitro. BMC Research Notes, 2011, 4:110

4 Baines D. Evaluation of prebiotics and probiotics to reduce toxicity of pure and mixed-feed mycotoxins in vitro and to prevent carry-over of aflatoxin B1 in dairy cows. Symposium on Gut Health in Production of Food Animals; Abstracts 202-1 and 202-2. 2014