Oat growers are hoping to re-establish sales into the equine market south of the border.

"We're trying to find ways in which we can get the equine feed market back. We simply have lost that market because the feed formulators have gone away from oats and gone to lower cost ingredients," explains Bill Wilton, president of the Prairie Oat Growers Association. "This goes back to 2008 when prices ran up and feed manufacturers started looking for lower cost ingredients."

He says they're also looking to remove some misinformation from the market.

"There was some research done that questioned the value of starch in cereal grains, specifically oats, to the horses. In talking with researchers and people at universities, they almost unanimously feel that was taken way out of context. It was specifically for older horses and horses with overweight problems," says Wilton. "In fact, a study that was done by Dr. Lawrence at the University of Kentucky, her conclusion was that oats are still the best feed for horses."

"What we need to do is convince the people that buy feed for horses, that they need more oats in the content of their feed," he says.

Wilton estimates growers in Manitoba and Saskatchewan have lost in the neighbourhood of 400 thousand tonnes in annual sales.