What do you do when the cows look perfectly fine but performance keeps drifting? In this episode of Ruminate This, Scott Zehr breaks down the quiet, hard-to-detect issue plaguing many dairy herds: subtle biological stress, especially from low-level mycotoxins that rarely show up on a single feed test but can dramatically impact herd performance.

Scott explains how cows can look visually healthy while quietly battling stress that affects reproduction, rumination, immune function, intakes, components, manure consistency, and overall milk production.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why cows “whisper” their symptoms instead of crashing.
• How low/medium DON, Zearalenone, T-2, and Fumonisin levels still cause major damage.
• Why mycotoxin tests often mislead (uneven distribution + sample variability).
• The real signs of toxin pressure: weak heats, cysts, SCC drift, soft milk, inconsistent manure, fluctuating intakes.
• Why patterns matter more than single data points.
• How to use Agrarian’s DTX Decision Chart to identify immune suppression.
• A real case where cows looked totally fine until toxin correction turned the herd around.
• Exactly what to review in your last 90 days of herd data to spot hidden stress before it becomes costly.

If your cows look “fine” but your numbers don’t, this episode will give you the clarity you’ve been searching for.

Resources:

• Mycotoxin Decision Chart
• Mycotoxin Guide

🎧 Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform 

To learn more on this topic, email [email protected].

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