While I was in Atlanta last week, someone mentioned to me that in a Southern state a large amount of harvested corn has tested very high for aflatoxin, which is the byproduct of fungal growth. Perhaps drought conditions in the area reduced competing microorganisms allowing fungi, which require much less water, to become more prevalent.
In any case, the numbers mentioned to me in terms of parts-per-billion were quite high.
The USDA and grain elevators test for aflatoxin. Evidently, there is a significant amount of grain that can not be sold.
I wonder how much this impacts the USDA forecast for the 2010 corn harvest?
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