A space age system set to revolutionise the production of animal feed worldwide, mainly in regions with arid climates, was launched on Wednesday at AGRA Middle East.

The Almighty Fodder system developed in Australia is similar to the technology used on space stations and proposed for future manned colonies on the Moon and Mars to produce food.

These hi-tech ‘super cells’ can cut conventional farming costs by up to 700 per cent, said an expert.

"The system can produce low cost, lush and nutritious fresh fodder for over 100 cattle or other grazing animals such as camels every day after only seven days," noted Kevin Murphy, director of Almighty Fodder.

“It costs over $320 per day to feed 100 head of cattle but less than $50 per day using our technology. Considering that it takes over 400 days to bring cattle to market size, that’s a substantial saving up to 700 per cent.”

Farmers in Australia are already feeling the benefit, according to Murphy, “Farmers who previously used traditional methods are making savings of up to $6,000 per month per 100 head of cattle when leasing the Almighty Fodder module.” 

"The system which fits in a 12 metre shipping container is operated by loading 1.5 kilos of barley seed to each of 600 trays. Water tanks which are housed outside of the container are filled and nutrient added. A timer is fitted and vapourised water is dispensed directly onto the seed, reducing any potential wastage."

"To cut down on energy consumption, the container is kept at a constant temperature, if the temperature increases, a thermostat trips the air conditioning and cool air is passed through the container until the temperatures drops to the optimal level. The process continues for six days until all trays are loaded and growing."

"In just seven days, the farmer can remove 800 kilos of high protein feed for his animals from the tray rotation, enough for more than 100 head of cattle with all the nutrition they require, at a considerably lower cost than traditional animal feed methods," he explained.

The fully grown trays that are fed to the cattle are simply replaced by new trays of seed, providing a constant supply of fodder, 365 days a year, irrespective of the environment or weather outside. 

“Another benefit that our module provides is the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Cattle are responsible for over 20 per cent of worldwide greenhouse gasses. Using our nutrients methane emissions from the cattle are reduced by 30 to 60 per cent. If all of the world’s cattle were fed using our module we could cut greenhouse gas emissions globally by a minimum of 7 per cent,” added Murphy.

“Modern technologies, equipment and expertise which are being showcased at AGRAme are crucial in helping the region develop its agriculture sector and overcome climate, limited water resources and poor soil conditions to build indigenous production,” commented Jim Meltz, exhibition manager, AGRAme.-TradeArabia News Service