During our years living in California, most cities have covenants or laws making growing grass in one's front yard a no no. Fees and fines attributed to the ongoing drought that in my opinion will most likely never be lifted.
That respect in conserving water is even more apparent here among other fellow farmers and ranchers. You quickly realize irrigating such large property is neither a practical option nor a feasible one. We tend to depend on Mother Nature out here. A stressful position to be put into when you are responsible for so many at the mercy of the unpredictable weather. Which brought us to researching alternative options. A system that would grow green healthy grass consistently all year round for all our animals. We still wanted to stay true to keeping our ranch all natural and support our earth friendly lifestyle. Thus the addition of our well needed hydroponic fodder system.
This system would allow us to grow concentrated nutrients grass all year round (even in the winter and drought) in a smaller space, growing safe from weather, not trampled by animals and humans, and most importantly cost effective.
The carefully controlled watering system channels the runoff that was used to water our fodder sprouts back into our filter method and filled into a watering troth for our animals to drink. Our hydroponic fodder system has been perfected to produce barley sprouts that is known to be richer in Vitamin E, Beta Carotene, Biotin, and Folic Acid, just to name a few. These nutritious sprouts are also high in protein and fiber.
Cattle are able to digest hydroponic sprouts easier, improving feed efficiency, overall health and well-being of our animals.
When mother cows are fed sprouts, the health of a newborn calves is also greatly improved. Having a highly nutritious, highly palatable feed consistently available for our animals is a universal benefit. We are proud to be able to incorporate such a productive system into our Ranch.