pyrachlostrobin and Body-Weight

Foliar fungicide application to corn plants is used in corn aimed for corn silage in the dairy industry, but questions regarding frequency of application and its effect on corn silage quality and feed conversion when fed to dairy cows remain prevalent. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of various foliar fungicide applications to corn on dry matter intake (DMI), milk production, and milk composition when fed to dairy cows. Sixty-four Holstein cows with parity 2.5±1.5, 653±80kg of body weight, and 161±51d in milk were blocked and randomly assigned to 1 of 4 corn silage treatments (total mixed ration with 35% of the dry matter as corn silage). Treatments were as follows: control (CON), corn silage with no applications of foliar fungicide; treatment 1 (1X), corn silage from corn that received 1 application of pyraclostrobin (PYR) foliar fungicide (Headline; BASF Corp.) at corn vegetative stage 5; treatment 2 (2X), corn silage from corn that received the same application as 1X plus another application of a mixture of PYR and metconazole (Headline AMP; BASF Corp.) at corn reproductive stage 1 ("silking"); and treatment 3 (3X), corn silage from corn that received the same applications as 2X as well as a third application of PYR and metconazole at reproductive stage 3 ("milky kernel"). Corn was harvested at about 32% dry matter and 3/4 milk line stage of kernel development and ensiled for 200d. Treatments were fed to cows for 5wk, with the last week being used for statistical inferences. Week -1 was used as a covariate in the statistical analysis. Dry matter intake tended to be lower for cows fed corn silage treated with fungicide than CON (23.8, 23.0, 19.5, and 21.3kg for CON, 1X, 2X, and 3X, respectively). A linear treatment effect for DMI was observed, with DMI decreasing as foliar fungicide applications increased. Treatments CON, 1X, 2X, and 3X did not differ for milk yield (34.5, 34.5, 34.2, and 34.4kg/d, respectively); however, a trend for increased feed conversion represented by fat-corrected milk/DMI (1.65 vs. 1.47) and energy-corrected milk/DMI (1.60 vs. 1.43) was noted for cows fed corn silage with fungicide compared with CON. In conclusion, cows receiving corn silage treated with foliar fungicide had better conversion of feed dry matter to milk than those receiving CON silage.

Topics: Animals; Body Weight; Carbamates; Cattle; Diet; Female; Fungicides, Industrial; Lactation; Milk; Mycotoxins; Pyrazoles; Silage; Strobilurins; Zea mays

Agricultural fungicide application has increased tenfold since 2005 in the United States. Active ingredients and formulations of strobilurin fungicides at environmentally relevant concentrations cause mortality to larval and metamorph amphibians; however, little is known about chronic exposure effects in amphibians. We exposed larval amphibians (Bufo cognatus) throughout metamorphosis to the common fungicide formulations Headline(®), Stratego(®), Quilt(®), and a control to determine effects on development and growth. Formulations were tested at 1.7, 50, and 400 μg/L of the active strobilurin ingredient for Headline(®), Stratego(®), and Quilt(®), respectively. Fungicide exposure did not affect body mass or snout-vent length at metamorphosis. However, exposure to Headline(®) at 1.7 μg/L increased the development rate of tadpoles by approximately 5 days compared to the control, an effect not observed for Stratego(®) and Quilt(®). Stratego(®) also caused approximately 35 % cumulative mortality. Results from the experiment suggest that chronic effects of strobilurin fungicides on development, growth, and mortality to B. cognatus are apparent at environmentally relevant concentrations.

Topics: Acetates; Animals; Body Weight; Bufonidae; Carbamates; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drug Combinations; Female; Fungicides, Industrial; Larva; Male; Metamorphosis, Biological; Methacrylates; Mortality; Pyrazoles; Pyrimidines; Strobilurins; Toxicity Tests, Chronic; Triazoles; Water Pollutants, Chemical