Safe Feed, Less Waste: Crickets Clean Up Contaminated Corn

Corn is a cornerstone of livestock feed across the United States because it is affordable and rich in essential fiber, vitamins, and minerals. But fungal mycotoxins above FDA regulatory limits can pose serious health risks to animals, making contaminated corn unsafe for feed. To protect livestock, mycotoxin contaminated grain is often diverted from the feed supply chain, an important safety step, but one that often results in the loss of valuable product for farmers and grain processors.

ARS researchers in Peoria, IL, and Stoneville, MS, explored a novel solution: using crickets to safely consume mycotoxin‑contaminated corn and converting those crickets into a high‑protein feed ingredient. Their research showed that crickets raised on contaminated corn and processed into insect meal contained nearly three times the protein of corn while reducing mycotoxin levels in the resulting insect meal by 96%. This innovative approach turns what would have been a financial loss into a new, safe, high‑value coproduct. By upcycling contaminated grain through insect rearing, farmers and processors can recover value from unusable/devalued corn while keeping livestock safe and reducing agricultural waste.