Don’t lose sight of mycotoxin risks as a costly season for disease control approaches its conclusion, visitors to cereals 2012 were warned.

“Last year we had one of the best-quality wheat crops ever, but this year’s weather patterns have been very different, with enormous fungicide costs for growers already,” said George Mason, Heygate’s chief grain buyer, at a briefing organised by the Farmers Club.

He urged producers not to skimp on ear protection sprays. “A few years ago, when we had a bad year, it cost us nearly £100,000 to test and reassure customers our grain was safe. In the breakfast cereal sector, even lower levels are required. It is the law, it is not something we can shy away from.”

He also urged caution when considering some of the new “hyper-yielding” varieties, which had potentially costly disease-resistance profiles, as well as significant mycotoxin vulnerabilities. “The cost of managing disease is causing some growers to shy away from these very high-yielding types.”

The risk of mycotoxin-infected grain contaminating large bulks in central stores was also aired. “It may be blended in a 5,000t bin, but unsafe grain is still there and at some stage it is going to come out. It is why we have customers who only want grain direct from farms.”

Grain provenance is increasingly important, agreed Heygate co-chairman, Paul Heygate. “Some of our customers – and some of them are very large – are asking increasingly searching questions about the provenance of our raw materials, and we believe we can deliver on that, which is why we like dealing direct with farmers.”

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