Filling The Horse Market's Need For Low Carb Feed with Teff Hay

With over 250,00 horses in our state raising hay for this market is a lucrative business even without considering exports. Randy DeRue of DeRue Farms delivered several tons of teff hay to us this week for our horse and pony that require a low carb diet and he introduced me to Natalie Shaw who's been horse nutritionist for the last 8 years. SHAW: The need for Teff Hay has really grown in the entire United States as more and more veterinarians are recognizing the symptoms of diseases like cushing syndrome. Equine nutritionists are breaking those diseases apart and understanding them a lot better and recognizing the nutrition's role in those diseases and syndromes. And I think in the last 12 years people have been searching for more options on the seeded forage side for controlled carbohydrate products away from the grain based feeds. She is finishing her masters at WSU Studying Teff and working to get more Washington state Farmers like Randy to grow it. SHAW: Some of the leading researchers on equine laminitis and ems ( equine metabolic Syndrome ) there's are some statistics out there that one in five horses are at risk for laminitis so 20 percent of the horse population that a great potential market for these hay growers to tap into. Sitting here in the PNW being such an international supplier of high quality forages we are in the perfect position to supply this niche horse market.