PRESS RELEASE

Award of Excellence for Agri-Food Export - Equavena Hulless Oats, Semican International Inc., Quebec

World-class athletes know diet can influence performance, and now trainers of the world's finest thoroughbreds have found a Canadian connection to help their horses win the big races. 

In 2006, horses fed a diet of Equavena hulless oats won three of the biggest horse races in North America -- the Belmont Stakes, the Preakness and the richest race of all, the Breeders' Cup Classic. As well, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has fed Equavena oats to its "musical ride" horses and its breeding stock for several years.

Recognizing that horses do well on hulless oats, Jacques Beauchesne, president of Semican International Inc., developed this niche market for horses working in a high-performance market such as racing or jumping. He has championed the use of the hulless oats as a value-added crop for Canada, and his business has grown steadily since 1997. 

In the past 10 years, Mr. Beauchesne has diversified and progressively increased the size of his company, exporting vast quantities of products to the U.S., Dubai, Puerto Rico, Ireland and the U.K. Canada is now known internationally as the primary source of hulless oat

        

Semican is proud to feed some of the major horse 

in the International Thoroughbred Industry.