Greenhouse grown fodder for dairy cattle

[Howdyjabo]

I'd be more curious about the algae that is being experimented with.

[TexasBred]

I'd be more curious about the algae that is being experimented with.

Call the Whitehouse...that might qualify for a green energy credit as well as an automatic grant for expansion. (no repayment necessary).

[Bigfoot]

Do you return those flats of grass back to the greenhouse to grow some more after they have been grazed, or do you reseed them. I kinda like the concept for a horse or two that you are stalling. I can't see me doing it, i just like the concept. When I was still raising tobacco the gas to heat a greenhouse on a cold night was outrageous. You didn't seed a tobacco greenhouse till almost spring. That thing would eat you alive growing something in January and december.

[pdfangus]

According to the site above you can produce 500 lbs per day in the smallest greenhouse. They show the variable cost as $76 per ton. The capital cost would probably be equivalent to purchasing hay making equipments. I don't buy all of it, but i do think hydroponics (sp?) will become more more important in food production in the futures.

by my country boy calculations this would feed one dairy cow one day.

so you would need 7 of this size units to feed the cow for a week and uisng the seven day regeneration claims you could feed one cow.

Land would have to be awfully expensive to justify greenhouse expenses like this for feed.

[Von Helman]

Here are some still images I screen saved from a video that might help some of you visualize what I am referring to. These trays are stacked 7 high and two deep on each side of the rack. The fodder itself is completely removed and along with the roots and the grass it is fed to the animal. Then the trays are re-seeded and a cycle of growth is 7 days from the time its seeded to ready for feed.

Again I am just asking because some people I talk with say these animals cannot live on green fodder alone and need dry food to supplement their diet while others say that the fodder is fine by itself and there is nothing else needed.

[TexasBred]

Cows need "x" amount of DRY MATTER every day. The fodder is beautiful but stop and think. If one cow eats 80 lbs. of this stuff on an "as fed" basis she will get approximately 12-20 lbs. maximum dry matter. That is not enough dry matter for maintenance and production so hopefully it will give you some idea how much of this fodder will be required to maintain the cow and allow her to produce a profitable amount of milk at the same time. A good idea but very limited in application unless you can grow and clip an awfully lot of this stuff. Seems to be more applicable to smaller animals requiring less dry matter intake.

[Von Helman]

Dairy Cows




It is well known that a cow only gets 20% of the energy produced through digestion of a grain based diet such as alfalfa and maize to produce milk.

Hydroponic fodder is so much more easily digestible, full of nutrients and enzymes that the energy spent on this digestion process would be far less with the resultant extra energy being diverted to milk production and growth.

Independent trials and studies also point to improved milk yields and content:

• La Serenisima

A leading Argentinean dairy conducted trials with 500kg Holsteins over an 8 week period. A group fed with up to 12kg of fresh hydroponic sprouting barley per day improved the volume of milk produced by 11% with an increase in milk fat by 23 %



Ohio State Univerity

Extended trials over 29 years indicate that dairy cattle fed freshly mown grass outperformed cattle fed the grass that was allowed to dry with increased milk yield of 28% and improved fat content by 14%.

• Stanton University etal (1997)

Trials indicate that animals grazing on fresh grass have higher levels of CLA (unsaturated fatty acid) in their milk and meat than those consuming conserved forage.

• Elgersma etal (2004)

Holstein Fresian dairy cows were fed on pasture then had a phase on a winter diet of maize/silage. The change in diet dramatically altered the FA composition of the milk. UFA decreased and SFA increased. The beneficial n-7FA rumenic acid + Vaccenic acid reduced by 80% within a week.

http://www.h2ofarm.co.uk/BenefitstoAnim ... attle.aspx

[Von Helman]

Why Sprouting Fodder?



Fresh sprouting fodder enables the digestive system to process food in a much more efficient manner than it does with grain because:

• it eliminates phytates to improve mineral absorption
• it eliminates enzyme inhibitors to improve the digestive process
• it improves the enzyme activity to make the whole process less stressful on the pancreas

Feeding fresh sprouting fodder means less energy is needed by the animal for digestion so it channels this unused energy into production.

Of the 100% energy that an animal (for example a milking cow) takes on board:

• 20% is used to generate heat.
• 20% is used in "system" maintenance
• 20% is used in production energy (milk, reproduction, growth)
• 40% is used in waste (30% fecal, 5% gas, 5% urinary)

Feeding fodder will reduce the amount of time the animal spends searching for food in the field. Feeding fodder will improve the digestive process so the animal absorbs more energy, spends less energy on the process and spends less energy in producing waste.

This net improvement is in energy available for production, whether this is milk, reproduction or weight gain.

Dry Matter vs Fodder



Many farmers and nutrionalists use dry matter as the yard stick by which livestock should be fed. However it is clear that much of that energy in dry matter is wasted by the animal in the digestion and processing of feed with much of the feed passing though the animal without being processed.

When asked "would you agree that the introduction of fresh green grass into the diet of your animal on a daily basis is a good thing?" the vast majority reply positively.

The high digestibility of fresh hydroponic sprouting barley means that the animal needs less weight of feed to produce the same results and is the same as feeding fresh spring grass to your livestock, every single day.

Nutritional Energy

Per kg, sprouting fodder holds 12.7 megajoules (mj) of nutritional engery. The total amount of digestible matter in fodder is 91% with on average over 20% protein and 20% starch along with all the trace elements needed such as Potassium, Calcium, Copper, Cobalt, Magnesium, Sodium, Iron, Manganese, Zinc, Molybdenum, Manganese & Selenium.

Beef Trials

In the beef trials conducted in New Zealand, the control group were fed approx 25% more Metabolisable Energy (ME) per day than those fed on fodder. However the fodder group gained 41% more weight.

Fodder Supplement

Ruminants and grazing animals were not designed to process hard dry matter, they were designed to process grass.

H2O Farm do not advocate a complete replacement of dry matter with fodder. In fact it is suggested that on a daily basis to give fattening livestock 2% of sprouting fodder based on the animal's current body weight and access to unlimited dry matter in the form of pasture or straw.

Fodder will help with the digestion of dry matter and the dry matter helps the fodder to fix in the rumen or gut to be fully absorbed.

Hydroponic sprouting barley as a part of a complete ration

Hydroponic sprouting barley is used by some of our farmers as a complete replacement feed. These tend to be farmers of sheep, goats and deer where the animal can obtain some additional feed through normal grazing of pasture. H2o Farm do not necessarily advocate using our fodder as a complete replacement for dry matter. We suggest that on a daily basis to give fattening livestock 2% of sprouting fodder based on the animal's current body weight and access to unlimited dry matter in the form of pasture or straw.

Ruminants and grazing animals were not designed to process hard dry matter, they were designed to process grass.

Our fodder will help with the digestion of dry matter and the dry matter helps the fodder to fix in the rumen or gut to be fully absorbed. They will work in a complimentary manner.

http://www.h2ofarm.co.uk/Science/Dry_Matter.aspx

Note: I am not trying to promote this particular company but rather using it for the discussion here so others have a better idea of what I am talking about. There are many companies that sell these fodder systems and I am just posting some of the information to share in hope of generating discussion

[ANAZAZI]

As you can see, the cow will need more fiber to work properly, that is why she needs some hay to complement the greenhouse food.

[pdfangus]

at this point I am no longer sure of who is trying to convince whom of what....

it is your money and your animals......

do what you will with them.....

assuming good stewardship of the animals.

[Von Helman]

I understand its my money and animals but part of the good stewardship is asking others who might be doing the same thing or have experience with fodder for cattle. I am reading up on it all and trying to learn as much as I can and asking others is part of that.

We have done this type of fodder for sheep and it was successful but I have never done it for dairy cows.

I am going forward with the project but I'm still asking and trying to get ideas and exchange information with others.

[TexasBred]

I understand its my money and animals but part of the good stewardship is asking others who might be doing the same thing or have experience with fodder for cattle. I am reading up on it all and trying to learn as much as I can and asking others is part of that.

We have done this type of fodder for sheep and it was successful but I have never done it for dairy cows.

I am going forward with the project but I'm still asking and trying to get ideas and exchange information with others.

Looks like you're sold on it so no need to . I just hope you have plenty of cheap labor to keep clipping this fodder because Ms. Betsy will be waiting and she'll want a lot of it. Manure accumlation shouldn't be a problem because she should literally spray it over a rather large area without any effort at all.

[pdfangus]

I understand its my money and animals but part of the good stewardship is asking others who might be doing the same thing or have experience with fodder for cattle. I am reading up on it all and trying to learn as much as I can and asking others is part of that.

We have done this type of fodder for sheep and it was successful but I have never done it for dairy cows.

I am going forward with the project but I'm still asking and trying to get ideas and exchange information with others.

Looks like you're sold on it so no need to . I just hope you have plenty of cheap labor to keep clipping this fodder because Ms. Betsy will be waiting and she'll want a lot of it. Manure accumlation shouldn't be a problem because she should literally spray it over a rather large area without any effort at all.

Texas Bred said what I was trying to say....you are sold on it so go for it.
I still am of the opinion that you are going to need a lot of greenhouse capacity to feed a dairy cow.

[Von Helman]

Yes I am sold on it and it's not a matter of deciding on whether to do it or not, like I said I am going to try it and learn something new. I just wanted to hear from others their thoughts or experiences with it all.

Sheep and goats are one thing but a cow is different and I am sure there will be issues but again I am going to try.

As for the greenhouse size I think I have enough room from all the research I have done but just in case I have allowed enough room to triple the greenhouse space if needed. If that still inst enough room then I will call it a day and say lesson learned.

[Douglas]

Good luck. And please come back and let us know how it works out.