The impact of military actions on the contamination of grain fodder with micromycetes in the south of Ukraine

The most important condition for the development and efficiency of animal husbandry is the creation of a solid fodder base, as the level of animal productivity is determined by their feeding up to 50–80%. The use of grain from various crops as animal feed and in the food industry raises questions about its quality and compliance with sanitary and medical conditions. The study aimed to investigate the spread of molds and their contamination of animal feed with biotic contaminants in the south of Ukraine under martial law. The veterinary and sanitary condition of grain products was determined based on generally accepted organoleptic, toxicological, biological and microbiological studies. During 2023–2024, 75 feed samples (fodder grains: wheat, barley, peas, soybeans, corn, grain mixtures, mixed fodder, and bran) were analyzed in farms in southern Ukraine. It was found that 54.7% of the tested feed met sanitary and hygienic requirements, 45.3% had grain integrity and discoloration, and mixed fodder and bran had discoloration, flowability, odor, and lumps. An excess of the norm of infection by insect pests of pea grain B. incarnatus by 2.8 times, and wheat bran and feed by N. granella by 2.4 times, respectively. The damage of grain and grain products by micromycetes was detected, 69 field isolates were isolated, of which 49.3% showed low toxicity. The main pollutants were mold saprophytes in 2023 of the genus Aspergillus — 47.2%, Mucor — 30.5%, Penicillium — 16.7% and Rhodotorula — 5.6%, while in 2024 the composition of epiphytic mycobiota of feeds slightly expanded, Fusarium — 3.0%, Aspergillus — 18.2%, Mucor — 6.1%, Penicillium — 9.0%, Rhodotorula — 21.2%, Clodosporiums — 6.1%, Trichothotecium — 15.2%, Alternarias — 3.0%, Rhizopus — 6.1% of isolates were identified. In the south of Ukraine, before 2024, the most commonly identified molds were Aspergillus spp. (47.2–51.8%), but in 2024, the most commonly isolated molds were Rhodotorula spp. (21.2 %), Aspergillus spp. (18.2%) and Mucor spp. The species composition of molds isolated from feed in 2024 changed slightly and other representatives appeared that were previously isolated much less frequently — Rhodotorula spp. (21.2%), Trichothеcium spp. (15.2%), Cladosporium spp. (6.1%), Rhizopus spp. (6.1%) and Alternaria spp. (3.0%). Thus, the climatic conditions of a particular year or season, and artificial changes in the chemical and biological composition of soils (including military actions) do not affect the presence, but only the species diversity of micromycetes