Here's an idea - hydroponic fodder

[Deberosa]

I was doing some research on the web last night and found this source for growing hydroponic fodder. This setup is expensive but I was thinking it wouldn't be that difficult to rig up something less expensive.

With hay $12 a bale and I don't have enough space to grow my own this is interesting...

http://www.grazegreen.com/features.html

What do you all think?

[AlchemyAcres]

Dry matter wise it's insanely expensive! :o

$21.500.00 for the 500 lb. per day (fresh forage) system or 50 to 77.5 lbs. of dry matter!

"Estimated cost to produce one ton of fresh forage… $ 76.50" (their numbers) This may be much more due to higher current grains prices.

Roughly 25 to 38 cents per pound of dry matter!!!! :o

A TDN (total digestable nutrients) comparison with the hay you're buying would be a better way to compare (this would be some pretty fancy feed). I'm guessing it would compare much more favorably in that light, but still likely extremely expensive!!!!

What size are the $12 bales?

How much land do you have to pasture?

~Martin :)

[Deberosa]

Well dang, I knew there had to be a catch. ;-)

A 60 lbs bale is $12 here now. I hope to get it cheaper from the neighbor this summer though. I only have a couple of acres to graze.

Didn't think to compare "wet" to "dry" mass - makes total sense though.

[AlchemyAcres]

A couple acres properly managed and not set stocked is a lot for a couple animals ....I don't know your climate well, but I'm guessing you could easily get 7-8 months (maybe more) of grazing there with proper management and stockpiling.

Amazing things can be done with Voisin style pasture management.

A small investment in Bill Murphy's book...Greener Pasture on Your Side of the Fence: Better Farming Voisin Management-Intensive Grazing...maybe even Voisin's book additionally and some polywire and step-in posts will go a LONG way in offsetting your feed bills!

http://www.amazon.com/Greener-Pasture-Your-Fence-Management-Intensive/dp/0961780738


~Martin :)