Horse Feed Dealer Updates: Triple Crown Horse Feed Dealer Network Expanding

2010 Horse Feed Dealer Changes and FAQ's

Potential Triple Crown Feed Dealer Changes in Your Area

Effective August 1, 2010, the dealer you buy your Triple Crown feeds from may change. Due to mutual agreement, dealers who received their Triple Crown feeds from Blue Seal Feeds, Kent Feeds, Evergreen Feeds, Ranchway or Kalmbach Feeds will no longer be able to get Triple Crown from these manufacturing facilities. An expanded distribution arrangement with Southern States and a new agreement with Cargill (Nutrena), that would also include ACCO and Agway, will be the replacement distribution for these companies. Existing Southern States dealers are unaffected. Your existing dealer will be notified the first week of July of the changes. Many will continue to sell Triple Crown products while others may not. Please see the chart below for the states that are affected and then check with your dealer as to their intentions to continue selling Triple Crown products. If they chose not to, call us at 800-451-9916 or access our website dealer locator for the new dealer near you on August 1st. In most cases, dealer availability and access to more products will improve, especially throughout the Midwest.

Triple Crown was not owned by Blue Seal, Kent, Evergreen, Ranchway or Kalmbach and we are not being sold to Southern States or Cargill. Triple Crown Nutrition remains independent and committed to serving the equine industry. Our product formulations are proprietary to Triple Crown and manufactured to our specifications. Therefore, product purchased in Texas would be identical to the product formula purchased in New York. Our goal at Triple Crown Nutrition is to continue to improve the quality and distribution of one of the most well respected and recognized brands in the industry. This change will also improve distribution in states where Triple Crown has been difficult to locate. The following states will have access to Triple Crown products sometime this fall; Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

States Where Dealers May Change

Northeast – Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine

Midwest and Upper Midwest – Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska

Lower Midwest – Oklahoma and Texas

Mountain States – Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming

Frequently Asked Questions Concerning Change in Distribution

Are all dealers involved in a distribution change?

• No. Only dealers in the following states may be affected: Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Many of the dealers in these states will continue to get their Triple Crown from either Southern States or Cargill (Nutrena). Please ask your dealer what they intend to do. The current dealers have access to Triple Crown until July 31 from their existing manufacturers and distributors.

Was Triple Crown sold?

• No. Triple Crown Nutrition was and still is an independent company. We are mutually changing our partnerships to enhance distribution and improve our ability to serve the customer.

My feed dealer says that he can no longer get Triple Crown and is trying to sell me a similar product. Is this true?

• Existing dealers can still access Triple Crown products if they want to buy from our new distribution partners, Southern States or Nutrena. If not, you may need to find a replacement dealer. Check our dealer locator or call us at 800-451-9916. There is only one Triple Crown feed and we hope you don’t accept any substitutes that are “just like Triple Crown but cheaper”. Don’t accept an imitation.

If my dealer decides not to carry Triple Crown, what can I do?

• The addition of Nutrena and the expansion of Southern States will almost triple the number of dealers that will have access to Triple Crown feeds. The Upper Midwest, Midwest and Lower Midwest (Texas and Oklahoma) will benefit the most. Many will continue to get Triple Crown from either Nutrena or Southern States. If they don’t, both of these companies will make every effort to provide a dealer in a convenient location. Please go to our dealer locator at www.triplecrownfeed.com/dealer-locator after July 31 or call 800-451-9916 so we can help you find your closest dealer.

I’m in an area where Triple Crown was not available or very hard to get, will this new arrangement make it better?

• Absolutely. As mentioned in the previously, availability should improve in many areas of the country where distribution was scarce. Starting this fall, we will also be moving into additional states where Triple Crown was virtually impossible to get. These states would include Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Please check with our website for more information by October 1, 2010.

Will the formulas stay the same?

• Yes. Existing formulas will stay exactly the same and will be the same at any feed mill. However, each feed mill has different types of equipment to process and mix the feeds, so it is not unusual for feeds to look slightly different from mill to mill even with the same formula. Triple Crown formulas will continue to remain “fixed” formulas and will not change.

Where will the new manufacturer’s ingredients come from and do I need to be concerned?

• The major grain/feed ingredient suppliers in the United States supply any feed company. Therefore, the suppliers of the new manufacturers feed ingredients were most likely supplying the old manufacturers. All bulk ingredients are from United States or Canadian sources. The vitamins and minerals will all come from the same suppliers as before and the Equimix ingredients will continue to be supplied by Alltech®.

How can I trust the new feed mills?

• Southern States, Nutrena, Agway and ACCO feed mills are all independently HACCP and Safe Feed/Safe Food certified. HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) certification has been a human food standard since late 1960. Safe Feed/Safe Food certification comes from the AFIA (American Feed Industry Assn.) Not all feed companies adhere to either of these certification programs. These mills know the importance of your horse to you and do everything possible to ensure that the feed is safe. All of the existing mills and the new mills are under the jurisdiction and inspected regularly by the FDA to assure good, sound manufacturing practices.

Why do I sometimes find a few kernels of corn in my feed when it isn’t supposed to be there? Will this change?

• Feed mills often use a common conveyor for bulk ingredients either into the storage bins or into the mixers. Corn is the most common feed ingredient and is also used to flush equipment between ingredients or feeds. Therefore, pieces of corn sometimes get carried along with the next ingredient and may show up in a bag from time to time. Typically, if this occurs, it will happen at the beginning of a batch of feed. The amount of corn is minimal but does stand out. It has virtually no effect on the total nutrition or soluble carbohydrates of the diet. Most all feed mill facilities will have this same problem. If you feel the contamination is excessive, please take the bag back to your dealer for a full replacement.