Sprouted Barley Forage System

2019 - Volume #43, Issue #2, Page #15

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Dave Cronauer, Laona, Wis.: “We feed sprouted barley every day to our pasture-raised pigs. Our customers tell us they love the flavor, texture and quality of our pork. The fodder ensures it stays consistent 365 days a year.
  “The Farm Tek Fodder Pro 3.0 we bought used and Robust barley from Schumitsch Seed, Antigo, Wis. (www.schumitschseed.com) are both best buys. The Fodder Pro 3.0 works well, and we have no complaints. It produces about 1,100 lbs. a day for our pigs, chickens and bison.
  “There is a definite learning curve to producing fodder. Clean trays and clean seeds are musts. We don’t use any medications in the water we spray on the trays, but we also don’t reuse water. We wipe down the trays with a bleach solution and also put bleach in the soaking water. By day 6, all of the chorine has left the plant.
  “We are careful to water for 2 min. every 3 hrs. If you water too often, you can get mold forming on the fodder roots.
  “We experimented with different kinds of barley before finding Robust. It sprouts better, grows better and mats better than others.
  “We had stopped butchering from the end of October to the end of May. That ensured the animals had been on grass for at least 30 days before being butchered. Now we can butcher year round and still have consistent meat.”
  The chlorophyll cells in fresh grass and fodder are almost the same as red blood cells in the meat and convert easily. As a result, grass/fodder fed pork is darker and has a richer, sweeter taste. It is also healthier meat with higher Omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acids, which are heart healthy.
  “We continue to feed fodder through the summer as well, though we do add about 10 percent peas to the barley seed. They are sweet and offset the bitter barley taste.
  “We feed fodder to all our pigs, not just those that are going for meat. We hand feed it, throwing it in according to how many pigs are in the pasture.”

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Sprouted Barley Forage System CROPS Miscellaneous Dave Cronauer Laona Wis : “We feed sprouted barley every day to our pasture-raised pigs Our customers tell us they love the flavor texture and quality of our pork The fodder ensures it stays consistent 365 days a year “The Farm Tek Fodder Pro 3 0 we bought used and Robust barley from Schumitsch Seed Antigo Wis www schumitschseed com are both best buys The Fodder Pro 3 0 works well and we have no complaints It produces about 1 100 lbs a day for our pigs chickens and bison “There is a definite learning curve to producing fodder Clean trays and clean seeds are musts We don’t use any medications in the water we spray on the trays but we also don’t reuse water We wipe down the trays with a bleach solution and also put bleach in the soaking water By day 6 all of the chorine has left the plant “We are careful to water for 2 min every 3 hrs If you water too often you can get mold forming on the fodder roots “We experimented with different kinds of barley before finding Robust It sprouts better grows better and mats better than others “We had stopped butchering from the end of October to the end of May That ensured the animals had been on grass for at least 30 days before being butchered Now we can butcher year round and still have consistent meat ” The chlorophyll cells in fresh grass and fodder are almost the same as red blood cells in the meat and convert easily As a result grass/fodder fed pork is darker and has a richer sweeter taste It is also healthier meat with higher Omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acids which are heart healthy “We continue to feed fodder through the summer as well though we do add about 10 percent peas to the barley seed They are sweet and offset the bitter barley taste “We feed fodder to all our pigs not just those that are going for meat We hand feed it throwing it in according to how many pigs are in the pasture ”

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