CROOKSTON, Minn. (November 2025) — The Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI), the Minnesota nonprofit organization that worked with over 100 agribusinesses last year to help them commercialize new products and improve processes, proudly announces StableFeed as the winner of its annual Ag Innovator of the Year award. Founded in 2017 in Kasson, Minnesota, StableFeed is an equine feed and supplement company that uses innovative ingredients to support the systemic health of horses in a more natural way.
“We applaud StableFeed for its vision and forward-thinking application of feed as medicine for the equine industry with its thoughtfully and precisely crafted products,” said Shannon Schlecht, AURI executive director. “StableFeed founder, Mary Hartman, took a big idea and a market opportunity, and turned it into a successful business. She took a risk creating groundbreaking and targeted products, sought trusted partners to help in the process, and has now created a company that is blazing a trail in the equine feed and supplement space.”
Hartman’s big idea started with using ingredients outside of the typical equine ration. StableFeed products use ingredients such as sainfoin, timothy hay, carrots, and berries. Sainfoin is a legume cover crop that requires tilling only every 20 to 30 years, compared to alfalfa, which must be tilled every four to five years. For other ingredients, StableFeed strives to support Minnesota growers and is working with farmers in its region to increase sainfoin production. The company locally sources timothy hay and additional feed ingredients.
Since its founding, StableFeed has achieved tremendous growth, doubling sales each year and surpassing $1 million in product sales for the past year. StableFeeds now offers 12 sainfoin forage and chia supplement products, and has more revenue and infrastructure growth on the horizon. StableFeed is also exploring sainfoin inclusion in other animal diets, as initial research has indicated it can reduce methane emissions.
AURI began working with StableFeed in 2018, one year after the company’s inception. Since that time, AURI assisted StableFeed with:
- Horse food blend formulation
- Product prototype development
- Manufacturing process troubleshooting and assistance
- Equipment selection and consultation
- Product characterization
“AURI’s services were critical to my success,” said StableFeed Founder, Mary Hartman. “AURI is the partner no entrepreneur in the ag sector should be without.”
Started in 2002, the AURI Ag Innovator of the Year award nominations are judged primarily on innovation in a product or process, if the innovation has been supported by AURI’s technical services, if the product or process uses substantial quantities of Minnesota-grown commodities, and whether it has achieved a level of market success.
