Hydroponic Green Fodder for Livestock

This post is based on an article, my good friend James wrote a little while back, James is an expert in hydroponics and has been particularly successful in setting up hydroponic green fodder systems like he describes in this installment, if you would like more information on this topic please see vortexdelta.com. a page that specialises in renewable energy & sustainability innovation.

 Hydroponic green feed or fodder is a natural livestock feed solution for countries with extreme climatic conditions such as the United States, Canada or Australia because it offers minimum water usage and the production of green feed year round irrespective of natural disasters, droughts, floods and fires.
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For over 25 years, research has continued on the application of green feed or hydroponic fodder production. Experimental testing facilities have been set-up to evaluate different techniques, systems, temperature effects, nutrients and grains.
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There has been a major advance in green feed production and many of the original problems have been eliminated. These advances have resulted in higher yields, reduction in water and nutrient usage and greater control over the temperature.

Why hydroponic feed?

The overriding factor is that succulent green feed, of constant quality and quantity is available year round, when and where required, independent of climatic prevailing conditions or natural disasters. It is easy to set up and easy to operate. Green feed is available to feed out within 7 days of setting up.
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Every farmer involved in livestock will appreciate the effectiveness of greenhouse cultivation and of having highly nutritious fresh green feed available for horses, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and other livestock at short notice and all year long. The most popular grains include oats, barley, wheat, corn, maize, cow peas and alfalfa.

Hydroponically grown green feed or fodder is fresh organically grown grass, free of agriculturally related contaminants especially fungicides and insecticides. Also because it is dust free it reduces the risk and helps prevent respiratory diseases. Hydroponic green feeds are 95% digestible,
unlike unsprouted grains, which are at best 30% digestible. During the growth process, the amount of fodder increases fivefold.

The cost of raising livestock therefore decreases, since approximately half of the cost of raising livestock is for feed. Because the green feed has high moisture content, reduces the problem of colic. A growing chamber covering 15 square meters can produce 365,000 kilos of fresh green fodder per year, which is equivalent to 25 acres of grass field.​
​How difficult is it?

The basic operations are simple and the growing conditions are regulated by controlled equipment. To be successful, good sanitation or hygiene is most important.

What are the basic operations?

1. soaking the seeds overnight
2. placing the seeds on trays
3. germinating the seeds
4. checking the plant growth and the controllers
5. removing the trays when the feed is ready for feeding out
6. feeding the green feed to the livestock
7. cleaning and sterilizing the trays
8. keeping the growing chamber clean and washing down regularly
9. making up nutrient solution as required (normally once per week)


 

Aquaponics at Home

How do you like the idea of picking veggies and scooping a fish for dinner? Sounds like fun. You start to think of camping or going to a far-flung farm. What about having all this fun right in your own backyard and transforming all these harvests into a mouth-watering concoction in your own kitchen that sits in a busy metropolis. With aquaponics at home, that is a possibility.

Understanding the Concept of Aquaponics

Many who have grown tired of consuming chemically grown vegetables have responded positively to aquaponics. Those who love to grow vegetables in pots around the house or to tend vegetable gardens are likely to adopt Aquaponics, as it offers the same benefits and more. This is a 21st century gardening where the vegetables are grown in soil less medium with some swimming companions.

Aquaponics involves putting together fish or other aquatic species (aquaculture) and certain species of vegetables (hydroponics) in one combined system. These two complement each other. The waste water in the fish tanks, loaded with polluting materials (fecal matter, ammonia, uneaten fish food) are pumped into the hydroponic setup for the veggies to use these nutrients instead of chemical fertilizers. Once the plants suck up these nutrients, the clean water is re-channeled back to the fish tanks.

Having It Right Where You Want It

Anyone can have an aquaponics setup in any space in the house or outside – in the patio, roof, backyard, or porch. One can find the pleasure of a Do It Yourself (DIY) system using inexpensive aquaponics system and some recycled materials.

Having aquaponics at home offers tremendous benefits. For one, it uses only about 5 to 10 percent of the amount of water that is used in conventional gardening techniques. If the setup is located in a greenhouse or somewhere roofed, the evaporation is even less significant.

You can say goodbye to veggies and fish that are heavily laden with pesticides and inorganic fertilizers. This is a guarantee because adding these chemicals in the hydroponics can transmit the chemical to the fish tanks that can kill them. Thus, those who are into aquaponics are forced to go organic all the way.

The Basics of Aquaponics at Home

To get started with growing food in your own home, you need these essentials:

• An energy efficient pump - needed to pump water from the fish tank to the grow bed and back. Pumping of water is done through the tubing by gravity flow.

• A fish tank and a grow bed with hydroponic components. A grow bed is the container for the crops. Thorough cleaning before planting is important to wash all traces of ammonia.

• A tubing system to pump and cycle water back and forth between the fish tank and the grow beds. The flow can either be a constant flow or ebb or flow system.  I´ll discuss those in future posts.

• A water heater that is regulated by a thermostat - only for places that have the four seasons or cold climates. This maintains the temperature of the water in the system. Generally, the temperature must be between 70 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit or 21 and 30 degrees Celsius.

• Bedding in the form of clay or gravel for grow bed. The crops’ roots dangle into the water, but the plants actually rest in a clay or gravel grow bed that makes the filtration of the wastewater possible. Thus, these bedding materials offer plant support, function as biofilter, enhances high plant growth yield, and provides water buffering.

• Test kits that will allow one to monitor vital conditions of certain ecological factors such as pH. The acceptable range is almost neutral at about 6.7 to 6.9.

The concept of aquaponics at home is something that makes it possible for gardeners-at-heart to grow vegetables and fish without much difficulty. In fact, those who find building a DIY system too much of a hassle can always buy a ready-to-use aquaponics kit.

Hydroponics beyond 2013

Welcome to our first blog! It is my intent to write my thoughts and observations and would love to hear your views  on sustainable & innovative farming practices, aquaponics and hydroponics.

Today's blog is based on an article I asked James, a good friend of mine to write for a website. James is an agricultural engineer and an expert in hydroponics. Besides been a successful farmer, James has also work in the agricultural sector both in industry and government, so he really knows his stuff. This write up is based on an article he recently wrote...

This blog is based on information and data from a wide range of sources, and in particular my own involvement with the industry, including green fodder production in different parts of the world, tempered and tropical.

The future production of vegetables, herbs, ornamentals and green fodder has been recognized for its environmental and commercial benefits. The possibilities are endless, especially when the costs involved in intensive farming practices (soil culture) are day to day increasing out of control. Current production methods face limited and costly resources of water, land, equipment, fuel and labor.

WHY HYDROPONICS?

Hydroponics is the science of growing plants without soil and can be done in a commercial scale or as a Hobby. The produce is a high quality product that addresses all the needs of the consumer: nutritious food, free of harmful agrochemicals and environmentally friendly. Hydroponics s the only way to overcome global food and water shortages in any type of climate and landscape.
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In the future, developing countries along with advanced nations will be able to feed their increasing population growth using hydroponics instead of the current intensive farming techniques, providing valuable food in areas of non-arable land and harsh climates.

ADVANTAGES OF HYDROPONICS

* Total control of plant growth. With hydroponics, the grower has the freedom to regulate the composition and frequency of the nutrients solutions in the different stages of plant growth, obtaining the maximum crop yields.

* Plants can grow anywhere. The landscape and the climate is not a deterrent to grow a produce, addressing the needs of the consumer.

* Water and nutrients are conserved.

* Pest and disease are reduced.

* Yields can be maximised.

* Weed control is unnecessary and therefore non existent.

* Labour costs are reduced.

* The environment is adjusted to the plant.

THE FUTURE OF HYDROPONICS

Commercial hydroponics is successful and rapidly expanding it dominates the production of a number of crops, for example in Australia, a largely dry continent, it is the fastest growing industry sector in the Horticulture Industry.
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Major benefits of hydroponics  include the conservation of water, environmental friendliness, reducing the pollution of land and streams by erosion and run off.

​The provision of income and employment by disadvantage population in economically depressed
regions. Hydroponic is a technical reality and the future of farming.​

Look forward to more blogs on this and other topics. If you enjoyed this article, you are welcome to read other articles at vortexdelta.com