Forever Feed Technologies and American Fork, Utah, have announced a multimillion-dollar investment from a group of dairy and agriculture leaders to develop sustainable and enterprise-scale automated indoor-growing feed mills.
The climate-controlled technology is designed to reduce water, land usage and methane emissions in helping the industry reach its goal of being climate neutral by 2050.
"Investing in a sustainable future for cattle feed compliments similar water and decarbonizing investments, like the many successful digester and manure management projects currently in operation around the country," said Jack de Jong, chairman of Forever Feed Technologies and owner of River Ranch Farms.
Forever Feed, based in Hanford, California, said the funding will go toward building the largest and most reliably controlled environment mills, capable of feeding thousands of animals with fresh high-quality feed year-round, enabling producers to responsibly expand their operations to meet growing demands. Forever Feed Technologies partnered with international automation and engineering design firms to bring its system to market.
"Our company is committed to building a sustainable future for generations to come," said Steve Shehadey, owner of Bar 20 Dairy, located in Kerman, California, and one of the participating dairies. "The Forever Feed Mill solution will provide a predictive water-saving and decarbonizing platform that we believe will enhance the output and welfare for our animals while reducing the environmental impact here in the greater Fresno area and potentially all around the world."
Other participating dairies include: River Ranch Farms, Hanford, California; Producers Dairy Products, Fresno, California; and De Jong Family Farms, Francesville, Indiana.
"We're pleased to have assembled some of the most respected dairy and agriculture leaders in the country to participate in our funding round," said Steve Lindsley, CEO, Forever Feed Technologies. "Forever Feed is committed to building world class water-saving technology that will allow our customers, anywhere in the world, to sustainably grow cattle feed 365 days a year."
Hydroponic cattle feed
According to reports, this isn’t the only indoor dairy feed project under development.
HydroGreen, headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has proprietary technology to grow cattle feed in hydroponic greenhouses. HydroGreen is partnering with J & D Sons Dairy in Riverdale, California, to build a feed center on its property, where the dairy would purchase 24 tons of sprouted grains a day.
Johann Dairy in Fresno, California, also contracted with HydroGreen for a share in the feed center, with plans to buy 10 tons of feed a day.
Each feed system produces about 34 tons a day.
