Conversely, aflatoxin approaches dormant levels when grain moisture drops to about 12 percent, especially when air temperatures decline to around 55 F. If you plan to dry the grain yourself, do not harvest more corn than you can dry within these constraints. Aflatoxin problems often develop in grain bins being used to dry corn. Stirring devices may assist drying but cannot overcome aeration problems that limit the drying rate in deep-layered grain. Other drying systems, such as continuous flow and portable batch driers, normally dry grain within these constraints, if harvest capacity does not exceed volume of the drying system. You may improve grain quality by altering harvest and handling procedures.
Fungi readily invade kernels with cracked or damaged seed coats.
If you suspect a problem, keep obviously stressed, stunted, or damaged areas and field edges from healthy corn. Increasing fan speed, opening sieves, and reducing ground speed help enhance grain quality collected by a combine. Spores from fungi on infected grain may readily disperse during handling, contaminating subsequent grain. Detection Methods historically used for aflatoxin detection range from visual observations to complex lab analyses. This product is called Kojic acid and should not be confused with aflatoxin.