RED DEER – Horse owner Danny Willows has a stoic approach to the decline of the pregnant mares’ urine industry to 130 farms from 400.
“The world changes and we have to, too,” said Willows, who has 170 PMU mares at his ranch near Buck Lake, Alta.
He and his wife Dorothy raise a variety of draft and Quarter horses to collect pregnant mares’ urine under a contract with Wyeth Organics. They have held a successful colt sale every year for the last 15 years, selling horses across North America.
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It has been a rough time for ranchers such as Willows because contracts were scaled back last fall and pastures were lost to drought and grasshoppers.
Starting last October, Wyeth announced a widespread rollback of contracts following a declining demand for hormone replacement therapy products.
“Some people are horsemen and they will still be in the horse business,” Willows said during the Alberta horse breeders conference in Red Deer on Jan. 12.
He said it is still worth collecting the urine, especially for established ranchers who already own the mares and barns.
Wyeth Organics offered western Canadian PMU ranchers generous buy-out packages, veterinary care and transportation subsidies when it did not renew their contracts.
Estrogen is derived from PMU for hormone replacement therapy to treat postmenopausal women, but a 2002 research project suggested such therapy carries a greater cancer risk. In 2003 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a low dose product that carried about 40 percent of the hormone contained in earlier prescriptions.
“The combination of those two factors led to the adjustment in the size of the industry,” said Norm Luba, manager of the North American Equine Information Council, which represents PMU farms.
Buyouts provided 167-185 percent of the contract value with a payout over two years. Another package was offered to pay for veterinary and transportation costs as horses were sold.
“That program has been set up to identify sales south of the border and we have some horses going anywhere from California, Florida, Texas and Maine,” Luba said.
No pregnant mares will be moved between Jan. 31 and Sept. 1. Two year olds could be transported Jan. 1 and yearlings may start Feb. 1.
NAERIC plans to continue its programs and has spent about $500,000 in sponsorships to shows and other horse events in the last three years.
