Russell and Murna Hannemann have run up to 110 head of cattle on their 160 acre property, an achievement they say is only made possible by their Fodder Solutions system. Mrs Hannemann is mostly responsible for disinfecting the trays and sowing the barley seed, and her version of ‘ploughing the field’ involves raking the seed in the trays to encourage even sprouting.

She said the process takes her around 45 minutes a day, and the task isn’t onerous. The number of trays she sows is determined by how much fodder they wish to feed out in five days’ time.

Cultivation of the crop is fully automated, with lights and watering coming on automatically. The insulated shed means what little heating is required is achieved solely through heating the irrigation water, and that’s been required only three or four days this winter. The sprouts are irrigated with plain water with no added nutrients.

Mr Hannemann said it’s actually easier to operate the system in winter, as summer temperatures require the shed doors to be opened and closed to maintain the optimum growing environment of 18-24 degrees.

The Hannemanns’ system produces up to 32 mats of sprouts or ‘biscuits’ a day each weighing up to 37kg, and Mr Hannemann said the cattle eat every bit of it, roots and all.

He said concerns about the nutritional value of the feed are unfounded, with tests revealing protein levels of up to 14 per cent, a 20-25 per cent improvement over the protein levels contained in the barley seed itself.

This is only the second winter the Hannemanns have had the system, and they said they’re learning how to tweak as they go.

Saturday’s field day is at 11760 Bruxner Hwy (first on left past the Barney Downs bridge) and runs from 10am to 1pm with fodder-fed beef for lunch. Registration forms can be found at www.foddersolutions.com.au.