If there is prolonged moisture the fungus will continue to grow and produce toxin. It is important to take steps to harvest and dry the grain quickly, to stop the growth of the fungus. If you are able to dry the grain with heat then it might be advisable to harvest the grain with one or two more percentage points of moisture than you normally would and then dry the grain as quickly as you can with heat. The risk of toxin accumulation increases if the grain is harvested and stored with higher moisture and dried slowly. If you only have air drying, and if the weather is favourable it would be advisable to let the crop dry in the field.
Infected kernels are usually less dense and smaller than healthy kernels.
If the weather continues to stay dry and warm, the fungus is not likely to spread in the heads to healthy kernels, and there is a good chance the harvest sample will relatively clean. Increasing the fan speed on the combine and driving the combine slower should help to clean the grain sample. Our biggest concern is wet weather coupled with a delayed harvest. Here the fungus can spread to healthy kernels that are nearly mature, resulting in kernels that are full sized but contaminated. These kernels are difficult to separate from the rest of the sample.