On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 03:36:21 GMT, Monroe opined:

I'm currently reviewing the use of cracked corn as a low-nutrient
amendment for lawn care. New to this approach, but I am not so new to
the concerns of mycotoxins in corn feed. To those that may have used
corn products in lawn care, are there risks associated with the moulds
that would obviously thrive in the decomposing corn products? I'm
thinking toxicity to local wildlife and domestic animals such as dogs
and cats. I don't see any discussions of this specifically directed
to use as a lawn amendment/fertilizer.

Thanks

There is a great deal of info on the corn gluten meal
http://www.gluten.iastate.edu/ but not a lot to back up the properties of corn
meal in and of itself. However, it is being used with great success to prevent
things like brown patch in turfgrass, and it also helps prevent other fungal
problems. It does create the conditions to kill pathogens, but it does not kill
or harm other biota in soils, actually it feeds them and gives them nitrogen to
chew on. Cracked corn may be a little different than corn meal, but it does the
same thing. Any mycotoxins in corn feed could cause a potential problem to
animals, but animals should not be fed corn anyway. There will be research to
back it up, or you can do a search on the website I provided above to see if
they have information. Send an email to them and ask.



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