Has anyone heard of CEN nutrition (Australia)? I follow a equestrian influencer (lol) on IG and her OTTB’s are on CEN grain-free (consisting mainly of sweet lupin hulls https://cennutrition.com.au/product/cen-complete-grain-free/) and CEN oil (stabilized flaxseed oil https://cennutrition.com.au/product/cen-oil-high-omega-3) and they look fantastic. Went down a rabbit hole of “wtf is lupin” and found that it appears to be an Australia thing? And the product isn’t in the US yet. Is sweet lupin called something else in the states? Intriguing.
Sounds like it’s grown in North America but not advertised as a horse feed. There are issues with toxicity if the sweet lupin crop crossbreeds with blue bitter lupin. I know lupin as toxic/ inedible but showy wildflower.
If I wanted legume protein I’d go for peas before lupines. The cross pollination worries me, also the fact they are bred to be nontoxic but come from toxic plants originally. Why take the risk of allergies and reactions when there are other proven feeds? It’s not like horses need loads of protein.
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Lupins are common elsewhere. I haven’t looked to see if the toxicity crosspollination issues exist there
Is the issue here that you’re looking for alternatives to soy for protein sources? Split peas are usually used here. Tribute for example uses them in their Wholesome Blends line to keep the protein high after removing soy.
Nah just curious as I’ve never heard of the feed in the states. I think it’s popular because it’s grown in Australia and not imported, and it’s relatively high in copper and zinc I think, and low in iron compared to beet pulp, rice bran, etc. I also think purple flower when I hear lupin ha! I wonder if lupin feed will be popular over here in the next few years.
Hygain (another Aussie feed company) use lupin flakes and hulls and their line is starting to be pretty widely available in the US.
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I saw that! Although I’ve played around with their various feeds in my little spreadsheet and can’t find what is balanced vs. what isn’t (as in, I can’t find a single feed that meets all/most of the v/m requirements), and a lot of elements are missing from their website (copper, etc.). I sent them an email for more info out of curiosity.
In Australia there are quarantine boundaries set around the farms that grow sweet lupins, to avoid cross pollination.
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