Hat Chat

The mold problem in corn is getting worse. Producers, elevator operators, and livestock feeders are all scrambling to try to find a solution to the problem. Mold is showing up in record amounts in the corn crop from parts of Indiana. Caused by the wet growing conditions, the extent of the problem is still not well known. Purdue Extension Ag Economist Dr. Chris Hurt says elevator operators are worried whether they have mold in their stored grain and how much, “The problem is confined mainly to east central and northeast Indiana, but many elevator operators I have talked with are very worried because they did not start testing for mold until they already had a lot of corn in storage.” Hurt told HAT corn stored on farm is also at risk, “There was not enough monitoring, so a lot of moldy corn got co-mingled with good corn.”

Speaking at the Indiana/Illinois Farm Equipment Show, Hurt said the mold problem is becoming a market factor, “We are seeing very weak basis levels in the affected area.” This is because farmers and elevator operators are not sure what corn they have is moldy, and processors and livestock feeders are docking some shipments as much as a dollar a bushel.

A problem being faced by some producers is having moldy corn under contract. Hurt said there are a lot of people with grain under contract for delivery in January, “What happens when you have a contract for 10,000 bushels of corn, you haul it to the elevator and they reject your load because the mold content is too high?” Another problem is corn that is in the government loan program that is found to have higher than acceptable mold contamination.

Hurt said, right now, there remain more questions than answers. One of the big questions is: what can be done with this contaminated corn? Dr. Hurt was the featured speaker at the HAT seminar that occurred Wednesday at the farm show in Indianapolis. A standing room only crowd attended the presentation which also covered an economic and market outlook for 2010.

Listen to Dr. Hurt discuss the corn mold problem and look ahead to market conditions in 2010

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.