Dead deer linked to mold in corn

[BeezeHound]

Dead deer found in corn fields near Wee Town and Vergas have been linked to mold in corn. However, much of the mold in Otter Tail County is not highly toxic.

Some experts say that dead deer in corn fields may, in fact, be the result of not only deer eating corn but also the deer not getting enough forage in their diets. Many white-tailed deer diets revolve around an alfalfa forage base.

“No matter what the cause, we want to know about dead deer that are found,” said Don Schultz, Area Wildlife Supervisor for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), based in Fergus Falls.

Schultz said he’s heard from farmers in the Foxhome area about blue and green mold in corn, not highly toxic.

Health officials throughout the state say that it’s the red or pink mold that’s toxic. Corn must contain aflatoxin in order to be considered deadly to humans or animals

Across the state border, to the west, 60 dead deer were reported in fields in north central North Dakota.

Thus far the Federal Grain Inspection in North Dakota has not found any corn that actually contains aflatoxin. This (aflatoxin) refers to any group of toxic compounds produced by certain molds, especially Aspergillus flavus. Many strains produce significant quantities of acutely toxic compounds.

The mold that’s oftentimes showing up in parts of Minnesota and North Dakota is surface mold. Most, if not all of it, comes off when combined and/or dried.

Some state officials say that many dead deer in corn fields comes about because the deer — while not getting any forage mixed in with their diets — causes them to basically purge themselves with corn and eat themselves to death.

People finding dead deer in fields and elsewhere are requested to contact Schultz at the DNR office in Fergus Falls (739-7576, Ext. 228).

(Fergus Falls Daily Journal)

[vister]

it knew it was only a matter of time that i read something about this. almost every cornfield from canada to missouri had some sort of mold in it. every acre of my dads corn had it, but it was a black surface mold, which the combine got rid of most of, and the dryer as well. i think theres a bigger picture to be seen here though. toxic corn has to be destroyed. sure there will be many animals that perish from the toxic corn, but the fact of the matter is that corn is top of the list in the nation as far as grains go. and knowing the entire grainbelt is dealing with it, makes me realize that some dead deer from it really isnt the priority here.

[Musky Buck]

Is this possibly why we haven't seen a deer in nor tracks near the 1,000 acres of it that we hunted last weekend, all Ottertail county fairly close to vergas, all irrigated and peeling back to look at some cobs it had mold, could the deer realize it isn't good or something and move out to greener pastures so to speak ?We were stunned we couldn't find a track. We drove tons of nearby cover as well. Will be interesting to hear more on this. If not the reason per se deer numbers are like down to zero on the 2 farms we hunted last weekend with an average wintering herd of 25-50 animals, looks like it's starting out with a goose egg this year, normally by now they are on these farms in decent numbers. Will further report as this weekend we are once again going to try to find a fresh track.