Improvement of Feed and Nutrient Security for Sulfur and Fumonisin in Texas Feedlot Cattle Rations

Abstract

Texas dominates cattle production nationwide, providing the largest scale of producers and industrial environments. Chemical toxins and contaminants in feed can cause unexpected foodborne illnesses and livestock deaths, affecting the sustainability and profitability of beef. Thus, regulatory guidance aims to adequately protect cattle health by establishing recommendations for chemical hazards acceptable in diet formulations. The Office of the Texas State Chemist (OTSC) also seeks to protect consumers of locally produced feed and fertilizers by monitoring state-wide compliance with animal, human, and environmental health regulations. Nevertheless, the unintentional accumulation of excess dietary nutrients, such as sulfur (S), and unexpected sources of food contamination, like fumonisin (FUM), increase the risk of livestock exhibiting health abnormalities that subsequently prohibits custom slaughter and generate an economic loss to the cattle industry. We hypothesized that the current Texas cattle feed supply presents a minimal risk. However, speculation remains concerning the cattle industry operating borderline to threshold concentrations known to increase the risk of S and FUM toxicity. In this research, we aimed to protect the economic viability of Texas cattle by standard risk assessment models that assess the risk and identify threshold concentrations of dietary S and fumonisin associated with adverse health consequences in cattle. Results identify high-sulfate water as a major contributor to S content for Texas cattle in the South Plains district. In addition, results confirm that Texas ingredients used to prepare beef cattle rations present minimal S toxicity risk. For fumonisin, findings demonstrate that more research is needed to address the gap in the literature for feeding 25 mg/kg to 120 mg/kg fumonisin. Lastly, results show that eliminating the option to blend corn containing high levels of fumonisin with lower concentrated corn subjected uninsured farmers to nearly a 5 to 15% economic loss, which equated to a 3 to 8% revenue decrease for the Texas food and feed supply.