This unique “vertical farming” negates several variables to quality feed

At first glance, the benefits of vertical farming are hard to dispute: controlled lighting and environmental conditions, better use of nutrients and a reduced demand for land.

What could be better?

How about a vertical system that offers those same attributes -and -produces quality livestock feed in just five days? Welcome to the world of HydroGreen technology, which can meet a beef or dairy producer’s demand for supplementary feed on a daily basis.

HydroGreen’s beginnings date back to 2012 when the first prototype was created and then incorporated four years later in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In late 2019, CubicFarm Systems Corp., a Vancouver-based firm, purchased the technology and reworked and advanced the design. Their inaugural DSG 66 can produce supplementary feed for 100 to 150 head of cattle daily. The commercial-sized system, the GLS 808, is capable of supplementing feed for roughly 1,000 head in its five-pack system, producing up to 34,000 pounds of fresh feed per day. The GLS 808 features a more robust harvesting mechanism that shreds feed for easier blending into a total mix ration (TMR).

Since 2020, HydroGreen has conducted a variety of studies in animal health and the benefits of the technology’s sprouted greens in beef and dairy diets. They have also shifted their business model from selling equipment to selling “Feed as a Service”, which allows for the same benefits without capital expense to the producer; they can buy the feed by the ton as they do with other ration ingredients.

“In this model, we can provide the high-quality feed to more cows with less capital expense to the farmers and ranchers,” says Savannah Cahoy, sales coordinator for HydroGreen’s Nutrition Technology. “The biggest benefit we see is the more efficient rumen function resulting in a reduction in enteric methane emitted.”

The design is very straightforward, with wheat or barley seeded on to a thick bed on a conveyor belt on one of the six levels of the DSG 66 model or one full machine (eight levels with five machines) of the GLS 808. Watering and lighting are set on a schedule and optimal environmental conditions are maintained. From seeding to harvest, it takes six days for the DGS 66 and five for the GLS 808.

Land-use benefit
The advantages of the technology are considerable, especially given land prices, operating costs -including fertilizer prices and impacts of the carbon tax -plus weather extremes affecting temperatures and precipitation levels. A 2021 story in Country Guide, featuring HydroGreen, cited land prices in B.C.’s Lower Mainland at $100,000 per acre.

“The production of 10 GLS 808 machines would repurpose about 340 acres of irrigated alfalfa land, which has a long-term conservation of about 1,800 acre-feet of water per year at the maximum recycling rate,” says Cahoy. “The infrastructure of recycling is an optional addition into a fully-constructed facility if a customer wants or needs that support. Another way to ‘re-use’ the water would be to pump it to your cows for drinking, if they’re on the same site as the HydroGreen technology.”

The system does not require any fertilizer during the growing process, and aside from water, clean grain, the controlled environment and the light used, the only other product needed is hydrogen peroxide, to maintain a clean outcome. It also helps with seed germination.

Nutrition breakdown
According to company research, sprouted grains supply much higher energy with a relative feed value (RFV) close to 500 and similar protein values on either side of 20 per cent (based on an inclusion rate of 15 per cent). The barley or wheat addition is an energy component, more so than a fibre component of the ration.

“On site, using HydroGreen’s technology allows for the producer to have high-quality, consistent feed, every single day at the touch of a button,” adds Cahoy. “Without worry about when their next rain is going to come, or when it’ll stop raining, they can also repurpose land they’re using for feed production for other grains, livestock expansion or other purposes.”

For those willing to purchase either the DGS 66 or the GLS 808 units, prices are $165,000 (USD) and $330,000 (USD), respectively, for the units themselves. Other components required for complete installation include the conveyors, the harvesting mechanism, seed cleaner and spare parts kit. Also not covered in the pricing are potential building and modifications needed to install the machines.

Further reading:

https://www.bctechnology.com/news/2024/7/2/CubicFarms-Announces-New-HydroGreen-Feed-Centre-Site-in-Chowchilla-California.cfm

https://farmtario.com/livestock/hydroponic-system-offers-year-round-on-farm-feed-solution