PAMI researchers have found a simple way to solve a problem that costs Canadian producers between $50 million to $300 million per year.

Deoxynivalenol is a toxin produced by the fusarium fungus, rendering grain unsuitable for human or animal consumption, researcher Charley Sprenger said.

Typically, producers burn the contaminated grain for energy or send it to the landfill.

But after PAMI composted infected grain with manure for four months, the toxin was completely eliminated.

Those prelininary findings suggest that instead of the grain being a complete loss, it could be spread as fertilizer.

“It was definitely exciting because we wanted to see if anything happened, and the fact that it was completely eliminated, it was like, ‘wow, that’s impressive,’” Sprenger said.

Sprenger presented the findings at the World Mycotoxin Conference in Amsterdam last week.

However researchers aren’t sure how that process is happening. Sprenger hopes further study will let them extract whichever microbes are degrading the toxin to create a soil-cleansing product.

“It’s something that as far as we know nobody has really considered so we would definitely have to consult with other experts, and that was part of the reason for attending this conference.”

The study was funded by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture with an in-kind contribution from the Canadian Grain Commission.