Broke Richard Ranch Invests in Drought-Proof Hydroponic Feed System

2013 - Volume #BFS, Issue #13, Page #19

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Raising goats can be both challenging and rewarding, according to Neal Amsberry, owner of Broke Richard Ranch, especially when you’re in charge of more than 250 head of goats. One challenge Amsberry can do without, however, is the high price of feed. When the 2011 drought that started
in Texas began working its way north that winter, Amsberry could see the stress on his alfalfa fields by spring 2012. He says, “We had irrigated and spent a lot of money on water to get a crop. After deciding that the yield would still not be sufficient to sustain the number of goats we needed to remain profitable, I began looking at fodder systems.”
Already familiar with hydroponic fodder production taking place in Australia, Amsberry set to work researching companies that sold the systems and chose FarmTek’s Fodder-Pro 2.0 Feed Systems. “I went with the Fodder-Pro 2.0 Feed Systems for two main reasons. The first is that they are affordable and the second is that I could assemble the systems myself and save a lot of money on the installation costs,” he explains. He continues, “My favorite aspect of these systems is their simplicity. They are user friendly and anyone can run them.”
Since purchasing his fodder systems, hay prices have risen to approximately $300 per ton, which put several small goat producers in his area out of business. “If we didn’t have the fodder systems, we would have been forced to supplement with corn this winter. Now, we have no intention of supplementing with grain at all.”
“With the fodder, I can feed less hay, which saves fuel for grinding and time for feeding. I now feed hay every 36 hours instead of every 24 hours. I also expect to cut my hay usage by 30% to 50% since feed intake will be lower with the goats eating higher valued fodder.”
FarmTek designs and manufactures a line of fodder systems which can be customized for any feed demand. Call 1-800-201-3414
or visit www.FarmTek.com/ADBFS for more information.

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Broke Richard Ranch Invests in Drought-Proof Hydroponic Feed System Raising goats can be both challenging and rewarding according to Neal Amsberry owner of Broke Richard Ranch especially when you’re in charge of more than 250 head of goats One challenge Amsberry can do without however is the high price of feed When the 2011 drought that started in Texas began working its way north that winter Amsberry could see the stress on his alfalfa fields by spring 2012 He says “We had irrigated and spent a lot of money on water to get a crop After deciding that the yield would still not be sufficient to sustain the number of goats we needed to remain profitable I began looking at fodder systems ” Already familiar with hydroponic fodder production taking place in Australia Amsberry set to work researching companies that sold the systems and chose FarmTek’s Fodder-Pro 2 0 Feed Systems “I went with the Fodder-Pro 2 0 Feed Systems for two main reasons The first is that they are affordable and the second is that I could assemble the systems myself and save a lot of money on the installation costs ” he explains He continues “My favorite aspect of these systems is their simplicity They are user friendly and anyone can run them ” Since purchasing his fodder systems hay prices have risen to approximately $300 per ton which put several small goat producers in his area out of business “If we didn’t have the fodder systems we would have been forced to supplement with corn this winter Now we have no intention of supplementing with grain at all ” “With the fodder I can feed less hay which saves fuel for grinding and time for feeding I now feed hay every 36 hours instead of every 24 hours I also expect to cut my hay usage by 30% to 50% since feed intake will be lower with the goats eating higher valued fodder ” FarmTek designs and manufactures a line of fodder systems which can be customized for any feed demand Call 1-800-201-3414 or visit www FarmTek com/ADBFS for more information

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