The Deseret News published an article recently about a new technology that could be one solution to farming during drought. The technology is called HydroGreen, and many are saying that it could be the future of farming in the west.
HydroGreen technology, which is exiting its experimental stage, aims to supplement feed with grain sprouts germinated on racks in climate-controlled warehouses. In a basic tower of six or eight racks, the system grows the forage over five or six days, slices the forage mat into strips, and then mixes it into the cattle’s feed.
This system produces 3,000 pounds of forage each day, at an operating cost of around $65 per ton.
One user of HydroGreen technology, Rod Magnuson, is a farmer from Castle Dale. He has been farming and ranching all his life, and he’s not about to give it up now.
In fact, Magnuson made a $650,000 investment on HydroGreen in order to keep his way of life, which was a bit of a risk. Luckily for Magnuson and his family, that risk really paid off: Magnuson’s system produces 9,000 pounds of forage each day.
Magnuson now supplements his cows at a forage that’s just a 5th of the price of other feed and a 10th of the water.
Bill Vanderkooi, who runs a dairy in Abbotsford, British Columbia, has been experimenting with the technology with impressive results. “We are currently doing a trial replacing some grain in the diet with HydroGreen as well as some forage in the diet with HydroGreen,” he said.
In Vanderkooi’s Bakerview Farm, he says they are also using HydroGreen to finish grass-raised beef in a mix with their typical grass and silage mix.
Fourth-generation farmer Michael Rigby of Salina turned to HydroGreen as a supplement in hopes to keep his operation viable. With ongoing threats of drought and skyrocketing feed prices, the family worries less about when the hay truck will arrive.
Rigby said the technology has been a game changer. “Now, within a year,” he said, “we went from the worry of whether or not we’re still going to be in the cattle business, to how big do we want to get? How many cows do we want to have?”
Though the technology is fairly new (it was created by a group of South Dakota farmers in 2015), it is beginning to attract the attention of some Utah lawmakers.
One of these lawmakers is Phil Lyman, the Utah House Representative from Blanding. He said, “What I love about this is you have old school cowboys using cutting edge technology.” It is amazing that cowboys will get to keep their way of life even among threats of drought, environmentalism and inflation.
You can look into more about HydroGreen here.
This technology could be a significant step toward preserving the farm way of life — even if that way of life looks a little different. It could even sustain us through drought for generations in the future.
– The Byway
Feature image caption: Racks of HydroGreen feed in a warehouse. Courtesy hydrogreenglobal.com.