Nearly 500 dairy farms blocked over Aflatoxin

Since this weekend, 497 Dutch dairy farmers have been prohibited from delivering milk to their customers without undergoing additional inspections. The reason is that the limit for aflatoxin B1 in finished feed has been exceeded. The feed comes from the Agrifirm factory in Drachten. 

The substance originates from a batch of French maize from the 2025 harvest and has been processed into finished feed, as confirmed this weekend during an inspection by SecureFeed. The feed was supplied to the 497 dairy farmers involved, primarily in the eastern and northern Netherlands. In consultation with the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA), it has been decided to recall all feed from the affected farms.

Huge operation
Agrifirm reports that the cargo in question originated from a single barge. Upon arrival, this cargo was tested for Aflatoxin B1, but the standards were not exceeded. A subsequent inspection later revealed that the concentrations in the final feed were indeed excessive. Since then, the crisis protocol has been implemented, meaning that all feed produced from this cargo has been recalled from the 497 affected dairy farms and disposed of. New feed must be supplied in its place. Agrifirm states that this is a major intervention. The spokesperson says that the cooperative deeply regrets the situation and urges livestock farmers with questions to contact them. Agrifirm assures that they are working "with all their might" to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. This will likely take several days. 

The consequence of all this is that the affected dairy farms are temporarily blocked, and the milk cannot be released until additional inspections have been carried out. The milk must first be analyzed for aflatoxin B1. If the substance is found in excessively high concentrations, it must be destroyed. If the result is negative, the milk can still be sent to the factory later, according to a spokesperson for the Dutch Dairy Association (NZO). The spokesperson stated that the results "can be issued quite quickly." It is currently unknown whether the substance was also found in the milk. 

Standard
The SecureFeed standard for aflatoxin B1 in dairy cattle feed is stricter than the legal standard, namely 0,0025 micrograms per kilogram, or 2,5 ppb. The legal standard is 0,005 micrograms. 

Aflatoxin is produced by molds that can grow during the cultivation, harvesting, and storage of feed crops. Corn from warm, humid regions is particularly susceptible to aflatoxin contamination. 

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is Head of Meat & Dairy at BoerenbusinessAt DCA Market Intelligence, he focuses on dairy, pork, and meat markets. He also monitors (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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