Screening for Mycotoxins in Silage

Mycotoxins are chemicals produced by fungi that can seriously affect the health of dairy cattle. Mycotoxin-producing fungi do not com-pete well with the microbes responsible for si-lage fermentation. However, if proper moisture content is not maintained or oxygen is allowed into the silage, these fungi can grow and poten-tially produce mycotoxins. In addition, myc-otoxins formed in the field can persist in the silo. The presence of mycotoxins in silage can only be determined by chemical analysis. Mycotox-ins are analyzed by several methodologies, in-cluding immunochemical (ELISA) assays, thin-layer chromatography (TLC), gas chromatog