Review of Hydroponic Fodder Production for Beef Cattle

Summary

Profitable use of sprouting grain as a feed source for commercial cattle production appears unlikely. Although hydroponically sprouted grain is a highly nutritious feed, it has major limitations for profitable use in commercial cattle operations, including its high cost of production (cost of capital, depreciation, labour, running costs), scale of operation, handling of very high moisture feed and risk of mould.

Mould is a common problem that increases labour and costs, reduces animal performance and sometimes results in stock deaths.

A problem that people may have in evaluating the cost of sprouts is failing to account for its high moisture content, labour input and capital costs. Therefore many people think it is much cheaper than it really is. It is best to evaluate supplements on a dry matter basis and examples are given in this report. Sprouts have been found to cost from two to five times the cost of dry matter compared with the original grain. Ultimately, it is the performance relative to the cost that determines profitability.

There are many unsubstantiated claims of exceptional live weight performance due to hydroponic sprouts. Tudor et al. (2003) recorded higher than expected performance over 48 days and concluded that further rigorous research was required. The performance potential of sprouts as a supplement to dry pasture remains largely unknown.

Hydroponic sprouts may have profitable application in intensive, small-scale livestock situations with high value outputs, where land and alternative feed costs are high, and where the quality changes (eg less starch, more lysine, vitamins, etc) due to sprouting are advantageous to the particular livestock. Such quality improvements may be more applicable to horses and humans than to commercial cattle. Sprouted legumes have been used to prevent scurvy in humans (Leitch 1939). For horses, sprouts provide high energy and protein, low starch, no dust and a useful supplement of vitamin E and biotin (Cuddeford 1989). Ruminants synthesise many of their own vitamins in the rumen. Cattle are also less efficient at using high quality feeds than horses or monogastrics such as pigs and people.

Full feeding for commercial cattle production with sprouts is inappropriate due to its high moisture content, high cost and scale of operation. As with any supplementary feeding, the cost and performance of sprouts should be compared with other feeds.

The future of hydroponic sprouts in commercial cattle production depends on

1. The cost of nutrients and performance supplied by sprouts relative to other feed supplements; and
2. Understanding the real cost and value of sprouts in animal production.