September 15, 2008
Canada''s swine farmers urged to be wary of wheat blight in feed
Swine producers in Canada''s Manitoba and southeastern Saskatchewan are being advised to their wheat-based swine feed to be tested for the presence of deoxynivalenon, or DON, the mycotoxin that is produced by fusarium head blight.
Fusarium head blight is a fungal infection commonly found in wheat.
Weather conditions in Manitoba this year were ideal for the development of disease resulting in widespread infection of the province''s hard red spring wheat crop.
Dr. Anita Brûlé-Babel, a plant geneticist and wheat breeder with the University of Manitoba''s department of plant science noted that weather conditions would determine the level of development of the disease in the region as the fungus has been consistently present in fields and most varieties grown in the region are susceptible to it.
Hot humid conditions are the most conducive to infection of the wheat plants by the fungus, she said.
Southern Manitoba and southeastern Saskatchewan as the main areas facing the highest risk as they have a wetter and warmer climate, she added.
Dr. Brûlé-Babel said the fact that is of the most concern is that this organism produces a toxin in the seed and that toxin essentially limits the utility of the grain. The grain becomes unsuitable for human consumption and unsuitable for certain animals, especially pigs, which cannot tolerate very high levels of deoxynivalenon or fusarium.
Feed with fusarium levels of above one part per million in a complete feed will result in some feed refusal. Levels from one to two parts per million will get feed refusal of up to five percent and at levels such as four parts per million refusal levels goes up to 25 percent, according to Manitoba Agriculture Food and Rural Initiatives (MAFRI) farm production extension specialist Ron Bazylo.
A research project at the University of Manitoba''s department of plant science, supported through the Canadian Wheat Board''s (CWB), is examining the interaction between the fusarium pathogen and specific host resistance, hoping to find a genetic resistance in wheat to fusarium.