Lucerne Farms

If you have ever wished you could feed your horse clean, consistent, mold-free hay every single day, that is exactly the problem Lucerne Farms set out to solve. The company grows its own hay in pristine Northern Maine, then chops, high-temperature dries, dust-extracts and bags it as ready-to-feed forage. The result is a bag of forage you can use as a grain complement, a fiber supplement, or a complete hay replacement, with the same nutrition in every scoop.

Lucerne Farms forage is real hay that has been chopped to a uniform length, dried at high temperature to lock in nutrients and eliminate mold spores, and run through a dust-extraction process before it is bagged. That dust extraction matters: it makes the forage a sensible choice for horses with respiratory sensitivities such as Copd and heaves. Because every batch is laboratory-analyzed to verify its protein, fat and fiber ratios, you feed a known, repeatable product instead of guessing at the quality of a fresh bale. Lucerne Farms was the first bagged, chopped forage of its kind in the United States, and it still runs every step in-house, from planting the seed to sealing the final bag.

How Do You Feed It to Your Horse?

Lucerne Farms forage is flexible by design. Mix it with grain as a grain complement, add it on its own as a fiber supplement, or feed it as a full hay replacement when good hay is hard to find. The company's guidance is simple and sound: always calculate your horse's feed by weight rather than by volume, and set the amount according to your horse's age, weight, temperament and workload. Because the forage is already chopped and softened, it is easy to chew, which makes it a practical option for senior horses and horses with dental problems that struggle with long-stem hay.

Which Forage Blend Fits Your Horse?

The equine line offers a blend for nearly every horse. Hi Fiber combines dehydrated chopped timothy, oat and alfalfa hay with cane molasses for pleasure horses, maintenance, dental cases and Copd or heaves; it runs about 9% protein with 30% fiber. Alfa Supreme is a chopped alfalfa-and-molasses blend at roughly 15% protein and 28% fiber, built for hard-working horses, brood mares, growing horses, ulcer therapy and respiratory cases, delivering digestible protein, calcium for bone health and biotin for hooves. The range also includes Totally Timothy, Hi Fiber Gold, Premium Hay and the Seminole Wellness Blend, with most blends bagged at 40 lbs.

Who Makes Lucerne Farms Forage?

Lucerne Farms is a family-owned and family-run operation in Northern Maine. The idea took root in the late 1980s when George A. James, then a vice president at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, saw chopped, dehydrated, bagged hay on a Maine Department of Agriculture trip to the United Kingdom and decided it could be done back home. The family built the business around that vision, and after George's passing his son Richard James took the reins alongside co-founder Susie James. Today the family still takes pride in controlling every aspect of farming and production, from the seed in the ground to the bag on the shelf.

What Else Does the Farm Produce?

The same all-natural, grown-on-the-farm philosophy extends beyond the feed room. Lucerne Farms makes Koop Clean™ chicken coop bedding, a chopped-hay blend with Sweet PDZ that tackles moisture, odor, insulation and waste in the coop. The farm also produces premium ground cover and Mainely Mulch® for the garden and lawn, where the chopped material suppresses weeds, holds moisture and enriches the soil as it breaks down. It is one family, one farm, and one standard across horses, hens and the home garden.