365 days a year
Green forage in the height of summer, when the fields dry out, and in the depths of winter. The season no longer decides the ration.
Innovation · Hydroponic forage: Fresh green feed, every day of the year
Since 2019 we have sprouted barley on the farm every day in HydroGreen hydroponic systems — two of them since 2021. Fresh green forage that doesn't depend on the season, the rain or the harvest.
How it works
From seed to feed trough in six days
In our two HydroGreen units, barley seed is spread across indoor channels where water, light and temperature are carefully controlled. With no soil at all, in about six days it grows into a dense mat of shoots and roots.
Each day we harvest the channel that is ready and take it, fresh, to our milking buffalo — around 10 kg per head per day. Meanwhile a new channel has been sown. The cycle never stops.
From seed to milk
Three steps, six days
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01
Seed
Selected barley, spread every day across the channels of our two indoor HydroGreen systems.
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02
Sprout
In about six days, with no soil, the seed becomes a thick green mat of shoots and roots.
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03
Milk
The fresh sprouts go into the ration of our milking buffalo — around 10 kg per head per day.
Why we do it
Feed that ignores the weather
A consistent ration
The same fresh greens, in the same amount, every day. A steady diet for the buffalo means more consistent milk over time.
Less water, less land
Compared with forage grown in the field, hydroponic growing uses less water and just a few square metres of floor space.
Less transport
The feed grows a few steps from the barn: no lorries, no long storage, no waiting.
In our fields
Maize and triticale from our own land
Alongside the sprouted barley, we grow maize and triticale on the farm's own fields for silage. The backbone of our buffalo's diet comes from our own land.
We know exactly what our buffalo eat, because we grow it.
At the feed trough
Fresh barley and hay, in one ration
Every day the mats of sprouted barley — roots and all — go into the feed mixer together with the hay. That way the fresh sprouts reach the buffalo's ration within hours of harvest.
The rations are set by Nicola Celso, co-founder and head of herd feeding.
The sun plays its part here too: the sprouting systems run largely on our 86.58 kW photovoltaic plant with battery storage.
Energy & sustainability