Hydroponic Fodder Systems: The Future of Farming...

[handy]

I found the following information in our local paper, I find the figures are really uplifting, especially for countries like mine which are always in drought & have destroyed so much farming land through bad farming practices:

There are 2 systems available I'll just relate the details on the smallest one being a shed 10m x 13m roughly 30 x 40 feet; the output of which is equivalent to 300 acres of improved pasture which would cater to 150-170 cattle or 2500 sheep. (I'm a vegetarian, but I can see huge environmental benefits here)

The shed uses vertical hydroponic farming & produces a crop of feed in 7 to 8 days! Uses 650 litres of water/day as opposed to 250,000 litres when irrigating for the same harvest! It takes 1 person 4-5 hours a day of harvesting, cleaning the trays & reseeding to run the show. It cuts down on not only water & acreage, but tractor work, fuel transport, storage for grain, silage, lucerne/hay, the feed is fresh, not sprayed with chemicals & on it goes.

This technology, looks to me like it is going to change the face of farming in my country in the not too distant future.

[zmjjmz]

Links? This could be helpful in space.

[frankleeee]

Hydroponic growing systems are high yield and very fast in turnaround, there are many types that can be used here is a wiki on the variations of this growing method. C02 can also be added in controlled amounts to speed the growing process and increase yield.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroponics

[handy]

Links? This could be helpful in space.

I would love to be able to provide a link, but there is none in the article unfortunately. There is an email address for someone at the company that builds the systems [Edit:] I have emailed & asked for a web site for further reference.
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I have the following link for a U.S. firm doing very different things with vertical farming which I also find to be very interesting:

http://www.valcent.net/s/Home.asp

[frankleeee]

NASA has been working on this type of growing system for years, here is a link to NASA and other links.
http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Educat...droponics.html
I live in a state in the US where there are a bunch of stores that sell pre set up hydro growing systems, since there are a numerous variations from drip, ebb and flow, aeroponics, and wick systems this is big business in my state.

[handy]

NASA has been working on this type of growing system for years, here is a link to NASA and other links.
http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Educat...droponics.html
I live in a state in the US where there are a bunch of stores that sell pre set up hydro growing systems, since there are a numerous variations from drip, ebb and flow, aeroponics, and wick systems this is big business in my state.

What knocks me out with this fodder system is that it is being advertised in my local conservative rural town's news paper! The firm that is installing them is based less than 1.5 hours away. If this technology proves itself to the very conservative farmers, they will go for it big time. If they have the water, for the amount of feed they can produce, they will employ people to man the new vertical paddocks which work no matter what the weather is up to apparently.

As far as hydro' fruit & veg', yes we have also had that going on for decades.

[frankleeee]

Sorry I didn't realize that your focus was on the growing of fodder. The cool thing about this indoor growing is that during the flowering season 12 hours or less of light you can use supplemental lighting to increase the light time to get vegetative growth.

I have a indoor growing system that I don't use any more, I had considered growing fresh herbs for the local eateries for a extra cash flow. Thanks for the information I had never thought of this type of system for feeding animals.

[handy]

Sorry I didn't realize that your focus was on the growing of fodder. The cool thing about this indoor growing is that during the flowering season 12 hours or less of light you can use supplemental lighting to increase the light time to get vegetative growth.

I have a indoor growing system that I don't use any more, I had considered growing fresh herbs for the local eateries for a extra cash flow. Thanks for the information I had never thought of this type of system for feeding animals.

If I get a link from the company I'll post it of course, though the company is a shed erection firm & they may prefer to keep the info' under wraps to avoid competition.

So money may or may not stop a link from appearing soon?

[handy]

I have received no email reply at this stage, who knows, maybe next week.

I spoke to some friends who are commercial, certified organic, herb growers about this system, they said it has been around for a while, it is quite expensive to purchase. They said that hydroponics look great,very lively & fresh but that the nutritional content is far below what it would be if the plant was grown in soil.

They also said that you would be able to improve the nutritional content of the hydroponic crop by changing the chemical mix & that in doing so the crop becomes more expensive than advertised.

Perhaps these are some of the reasons that I have not been noticing the farmers popping up vertical paddocks all around me.