10/22/96

CONTACTS:
Manjit Misra, Seed Science Center, (515) 294-6821
Dale Thoreson, ISU Extension, (319) 882-4275
Brian Meyer, Agriculture Information, (515) 294-0706

ISU STUDIES SHOW INFECTED BARLEY CAN BE CLEANED

AMES, Iowa - Help is on its way to clean up fungus-infected barley that has sickened dairy cows in northeast Iowa, according to Iowa State University officials.

A meeting will be held at 8 p.m. Oct. 28 at the Farmers and Merchants Bank in Waukon to explain the cleaning procedures. ISU has contacted a Canadian businessman who has agreed to set up a portable grain-cleaning system near Waukon for a few weeks, said Dale Thoreson, ISU Extension field specialist.

Normally, barley isn't grown to any great extent in Iowa, but this year, increases in grain prices changed that. As an alternative to corn, northeast Iowa farmers grew about 9,000 acres of barley for use in cow rations.

The cool, wet growing season promoted the development of ergot, a fungus containing alkaloids that are toxic to livestock. About a dozen cows have died from eating the infected grain, which has a black, shriveled appearance.

ISU researchers and Extension specialists studied several ways to separate the fungus from barley, including a heating process and an ammonia treatment. They decided the best way was to mechanically remove the fungus with a gravity table, a seed-cleaning device that separates substances by density.

"The goal was to reduce ergot to less than one-tenth of a percent in the final product," said Manjit Misra, director of ISU's Seed Science Center and an agricultural engineer. "We were able to do that with density separation, and we think it can be done at a reasonable cost to producers."

ISU contacted the Canadian business and made arrangements for bringing the portable grain-cleaning system to Iowa. The cost for cleaning infected barley should be 40 to 45 cents a bushel, Misra said.

Some percentage of the grain, ranging from 8 to 20 percent, will need to be discarded. It will depend on the severity of contamination, said Kamal Adam, a research associate at the Seed Science Center.

If farmers with barley have questions, they can contact Thoreson at (319) 882-4275 or Misra at (515) 294-6821.

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