In Indiana, five ear rots can lead to mycotoxin production in corn. They include Aspergillus ear rot, Gibberella ear rot, Fusarium ear rot, and Penicillium ear rot. They can cause the production of five different mycotoxins in association with the different ear rot: Aflatoxin (Aspergillus), Deoxynivalenol or as also called DON/vomitoxin and Zearalenone (Gibberella); Fumonisins (Fusarium), and Ochratoxin (Penicillium and sometimes Aspergillus).
Due to increased reports of mycotoxin contamination in corn in the last few years we will again be conducting a survey of Indiana grain for mycotoxin testing and collecting data for forecasting model validation in 2025. If you have fields of concern and want to participate, please reach out to Darcy Telenko at dtelenko@purdue.edu to get more information and sample protocol.
This project is supported by the Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC).
Ear rots and mycotoxin risk
Scouting for ear rots is very important. The Crop Protection Network has a number of great resources to help scout and identify ear rots
- Corn mycotoxin FAQs https://cropprotectionnetwork.org/publications/mycotoxin-faqs
- An Overview of Ear Rots (PDF)
- Grain and Silage Sampling and Mycotoxin Testing
If a field has ear rot problems, it will be important to test the harvested grain lots for mycotoxins. The Grain and Silage Sampling and Mycotoxin Testing Resources publication provides a good reference on how to take a sample or sub-samples and a list of professional laboratories available to grain testing. In addition, harvest management for ear rots includes identifying and harvesting fields early, drying grain quickly to below 15% moisture, and storing in dry and cool conditions to limit fungal growth and mycotoxin accumulation.
