The rumen deactivates some mycotoxins, which has long been used to argue that ruminants are protected. In practice that protection is partial and unreliable. High feed intake in dairy cows means high toxin intake, a fast passage rate leaves less time for rumen degradation, and a stressed or acidotic rumen degrades far less than a healthy one. Some toxins pass through to damage the animal, and aflatoxin carries over into milk as aflatoxin M1, which is a food safety and compliance problem, not just a performance one. The effects show as depressed intake, weaker immunity, poorer fertility, and lower milk yield.

The answer is a structured process rather than a reaction. Plan the risk from your raw materials, sample feed and animals, prepare the mitigation, and test to confirm. Broad-spectrum binders and toxin-management products cut the load the animal absorbs, which protects gut integrity, immune function, and reproductive performance.
Managing it follows the same discipline as in other species. Plan the risk from forages, silages, and concentrates, sample across the ration, prepare the mitigation, and test to confirm. Broad-spectrum binders reduce the load reaching the cow, and antioxidants protect the fats and vitamins in the diet from oxidation.