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Frustration in the Fields as Farm Bill Remains in Limbo

By Marc Heller

The pressure on dairy farmers like Jim Davenport to quit comes from every direction these days: volatile milk prices. Shuttered dairy plants. Rising land values that promise a windfall to cash out out to developers.

Without a little help from the government, farmers say, agriculture here in the Hudson River Valley and other places dominated by small farms might succumb and shrink into little more than a hobby.

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Accuracy in testing for DON

Video: Accuracy in testing for DON

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a mycotoxin naturally produced by the fungus that causes Gibberella ear rot in corn. Infection occurs through the corn silk channel when ideal temperatures (approx. 27°C) and higher humidity are present. Cool wet conditions after pollination favour continual disease development and determines the level of infection. Effective sampling, detection, and quantification of DON are challenging due to its uneven distribution on the ear as well as its presence across the field, resulting in infected and non-infected kernels in the same grain sample.