Africa farming communities are seeking solutions to drought-proofing livestock farms. A new economically viable feeding solution for livestock management...

GEORGE, WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA, August 22, 2016 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Drought-proofing livestock farms in Africa.

The Green Sprouts feeding system makes it possible to produce the equivalent of up to 15ha grazing under irrigation in a small 'container known as the Green Sprouts Booster'. This system produces green feed within 5 to 7 days and means that a livestock farmer can increase productivity while reducing input costs, have a constant supply of fresh and highly nutritious feed available, and instantly 'drought-proof' the farm.

Recent events confirm that livestock and dairy farmers are unable to produce feed for their animals in times of drought and have to resort to buying expensive feed. This puts some farmers under a lot of financial pressure and in some cases are forced to sell their livestock and even give up farming altogether.

After having 450+ systems installed in Southern Africa region and being the market leaders in developing a one stop solution, Green Sprouts Solutions are comfortable to introduce this revolutionary feed growing concept to assist in solving many farmers’ headaches with this “drought-proofing” option.

Vivian Beukes of Green Sprouts Solutions in George, Western Cape, developed the Green Sprouts feeding system to sprout, or germinate grain and legume seed for highly nutritious, cost-effective livestock feed. A cost comparison done by the company shows that feeding cattle barley in combination with maize from the Green Sprouts feeding system, ensures a highly nutritional enhancement to the daily feed ration of the animal. In a predetermined feed ratio combination with roughage, the farmer can save on expensive feeding costs and can even improve on the daily nutritional requirements of the animal.

A Sprout Booster is 8,1m long, 3,4m wide and 2,7m high, and comes with 3 different design options. The all new Next Generation Booster offers the ideal isolation for areas where extreme weather is of concern. Both the Standard and Next Generation options are covered by special plastic sheeting to allow the optimal amount of sunlight. The Standard Booster unit takes 196 trays and the Next Generation Booster takes 168 trays, with Aeroponics technology used for the growing. Unlike hydroponics, where plants are grown with their roots in a mineral nutrient solution, Aeroponics has no growth medium and no nutrients are given to the plant.

Grown in specially designed sprouting trays, the sprouts use nutrients from seeds in the form of starch that is converted to plant sugars. No fertilizer or chemical is used to help grow the sprouts, only clean water via an overhead mist irrigation system. The sprouts are harvested within five to seven days, when most of the nutrients in the seed have been absorbed.

Each day you remove the feed that’s ready from the trays, rinse the tray, reseed and put the tray back into the unit. Barley germinates within 24 hours of seeding and grows in the same tray for five to seven days and is then ready for harvest as a grass mat. The ‘sprout mat’ is highly nutritious as it’s a living food. The animals will eat the entire mat, so there’s no waste.

Before being placed in the growing trays, the seed must be soaked in water for about one hour. This helps the seed to better absorb water when irrigated. It also helps speed up the germination process. We recommend irrigating the seed once every half an hour for about 25 seconds depending the area.

The system uses about 500 to 800 liter water per 24-hour cycle. The Green Sprouts System uses minimum electricity. The Boosters do not use a air-conditioner for cooling down the system inside, but a evaporative cooler specially designed for the Boosters. This cooling option keeps the cost as low as possible and for this reason makes it an economically viable solution for any livestock farmer. The Green Sprouts feeding system can produce enough green feed for 300 sheep/goats, 55 cattle per day to replace some of the expensive concentrated feed in the animals’ diet. Green Sprouts Solutions recommends farmers use barley seed because of its nutritional benefits. “Barley sprout green feed” from the system are good for the digestive system of the animal, leading to healthier animals. Barley sprouts increase the red blood cell count, resulting in more oxygen, which means the animal uses less energy. Nutritionally each kilogram of barley sprouts is equivalent to 3kg lucerne.

The pricing of the Green Sprouts feeding systems range from ($8500 to $16 000) R130 000 to R240 000 (excluding VAT, transport & taxes where applicable). The installation is done by Green Sprouts Solutions, the farmer provides a concrete floor, a water and power point. (Solar powered systems are available on request). This system really offers farmers a way to ‘drought-proof’ their farms, and they can also keep more livestock without having to buy or rent more land. When being able to keep more animals, increases productivity and profitability, farmers also save on input costs, because the feed costs less to produce. The Green Sprouts Booster a proven technology for a better future.

For more detailed information please visit our website or email us.

Hannes Moolman
Green Sprouts Solutions
+2744 873 0371
email us here

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