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Farmers have more to fret over in this year’s corn harvest

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Reuters: North American farmers are finding increased levels of a plant toxin known as vomitoxin in this year’s corn harvest, adding insult to injury for growers already suffering as the U.S.-China trade war hurts soybean exports and crop prices. Vomitoxin sickens livestock and can also make humans and pets fall ill, and grain buyers can reject cargoes or fine farmers for shipments that contain it. More cases than normal are likely in the corn crop because wet weather this autumn caused the fungus to develop while delaying harvests, Iowa State University grain quality expert Charles Hurburgh said. The quality worries come as U.S. farm income has plunged by half over the past five years and as the deepening trade war harms demand for soybeans, the most valuable U.S. agricultural export product to China, and one frequently rotated with corn.

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