Fructan - Everything you should know about it.
What is fructan?
Fructan is a long-chained carbohydrate, that works as an energy storage inside the grass-plant. The energy is stored when the plant doesn’t grow. This is the case under certain weather conditions for example when it’s sunny, but the temperatures are low.
Why is fructan an issue?
The intake of large amounts of fructan is especially for horses with the equine cushing syndrome, EMS or laminits a risk, as ist can cause the diseases to break out.
Solution?
Solution?
The digital fructan-assessment!
- Fructan-Risk at a glance with our fructan-assessment
- Individual fructan-calendar as an app
- Weather forecast for the upcoming 12 hours and 5 days
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Humidity, night temperatur and dryness:
assess the fructan risk yourself additionally - Add field time: pasture management
- Risk Overview in a graph
How does the fructan-assessment work?
The App is able to access the weather forecast at your horse’s location. This way the fructan-risk can be reliably calculated.
- low risk
- medium risk
- high risk
Download the fructan-risk assessment here. Put it up in your barn to check it everyday.
Fructan FAQ
What are you waiting for?
Download the HorseAnalytics app now, to make sure to give your horse the best healthcare possible.
Further factors that affect the fructan content in grass
Type of grass
Type of grass
Certain types of grass naturally store more or less fructan.
Types of grass that store a lot of fructan:
German Ryegrass
Meadow Fescue
Types of grass that store less fructan:
Timothy Grass
Red Fescue
Orchard Grass
Meadow Foxtail
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Types of grass that store a lot of fructan:
German Ryegrass
Meadow Fescue
Types of grass that store less fructan:
Timothy Grass
Red Fescue
Orchard Grass
Meadow Foxtail
Height of the grass
Height of the grass
In particular, pastures that are kept short by the animals store more fructan than unused fields where the grass can grow freely. When grass cannot grow, it becomes "stressed," resulting in large fructan storage.
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Fertilizing
Fertilizing
Nitrogen fertilization in spring can reduce the fructan content in grass. When the soil contains enough nutrients the fructan content in grass in generally lower.
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Season
Season
The fructan content in grass is subject to seasonal fluctuations. It is therefore important to know that the fructan risk is particularly high in May and October/November.
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