With an overall message encouraging farmers to think “outside the (silage) bag,” Silvia Abel-Caines, DVM, Ph.D., staff ruminant nutritionist for Organic Valley, said feeding dairy cows sprout fodder can make sense nutritionally and economically in some situations.

She spoke at the Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) conference held earlier this year in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, along with organic dairy producer John Stolzfus.

“There is no question that the nutritional content of fresh, clean, sprouted barley will bring additional enzymes and phyto-compounds not available in conserved feeds. But every farm needs to carefully evaluate if the high economical investment of a commercial fodder system fits the budget and the labor required to keep it functional year-round,” she said.

Abel-Caines defined fodder as the production of young grass under controlled environmental conditions. Most dairy producers who are using sprouts for their cows are growing barley, but others have experienced success with wheat.

Grains induce acid formation during the digestive process, which can lead to acidosis. Sprouts are more alkaline and not only reduce the odds of acidosis but lead to better rumen energy.

Other benefits of feeding sprouts include increased enzyme levels which aids digestion and absorption of nutrients, increased levels of vitamins in the ration, increased mineral bioavailability and increased fatty acids (quality energy) and amino acids (quality protein).

On the many farms feeding sprouts that she has visited, Abel-Caines said she consistently sees a rise in butterfat in herds fed sprouts and occasionally a rise in milk production. She cited an eight-week study which fed 12 kg (approximately 26.5 pounds) of fresh hydroponic sprouting barley per day. The volume of milk produced increased by 11 percent with an increase in milk fat by 23 percent, but she noted that is not always the case.

“The variability in the milk production and milk components response will depend on the overall balance of the protein and carbohydrates in the ration fed to the cows,” she noted.

The average cow on the farms feeding fodder that she has looked at is receiving 20 pounds of fodder a day. Most of these farms are averaging an increase of 0.2 to 0.4 percent in butterfat.

When comparing mg per kg of dry matter, barley grass was higher than barley grain in Vitamin E (62.4 to 7.4), beta-carotene (42.7 to 4.1), biotin (1.15 to 0.16) and free folic acid (1.05 to 0.12).

Cows fed fresh green plants produce milk with 128 percent more omega-3 fatty acid (a healthy fat for humans which has a crucial role in how cells function). She noted that it is important to remember that we are the final consumer, and it is important to have healthy cows eating healthy foods grown in healthy soils.

“There really is no question of the quality of the nutrition,” Abel-Caines said about sprouts.

Although sprout systems are working well on farms, Abel-Caines said they are not for everyone. They require a capital investment, the time and expense of daily labor and the ability to work through the trials and errors of startup. She believes the systems can work best for those who already have available labor, smaller farms and those looking to be more self-sufficient.

Thus far, she has seen barley seed grown most effectively in on-farm sprout fodder-growing systems that were made by the farmers following the specifications of professional greenhouse systems, and spring barley tends to perform better than fall.

She noted that many who are having problems growing fodder are not breaking the dormancy of the seed. For best results, she recommended an 18-hour soak of seed before putting them into the growing trays. This longer soaking time not only increases the germination rate, but it also increases the final yields.

Her other advice for success is, “You must use clean seed. I cannot stress this enough.”

Mold is the most common problem with fodder-growing systems. Abel-Caines said there should be no tolerance for mold in a dairy ration. Although there are different mold-control aids which can be used, such as bleach or peroxide, environmental controls are even more important. “If you can’t control the temperature and humidity, you can’t control mold.”

The temperature in the growing environment should be 64 to 74ºF, and the humidity should be at 70 percent or less. Use of a dehumidifier or air flow can be a big help in controlling humidity levels.

Light is actually not required to sprout grain; the chloroplast do not develop until day five. She noted more and more of those using sprouts are harvesting on day six instead of seven. Abel-Caines explained that the peak nutrition in the green fodder is at day six, which may be related to the limited reserves found in the seed.

Factoring the cost of seed, water, electricity and time, Abel-Caines says fodder averages about $95 per ton, which is about $0.047 per pound which compares to $138 a ton for silage on an as-fed basis.

Although the largest amount of excitement about sprouts seems to be with the dairy industry, the anti-inflammatory compounds in sprouts can successfully be used to treat gastric ulcers in horses.

She cautioned chicken producers to never try to feed sprouted sorghum (milo) to their birds as it can be toxic.

John Stolzfus of B-A-Blessing farm in Whitesville, New York, is an organic producer who turned to sprouts as a way to keep costs down. In the winter of 2009, he started experimenting with soaking barley seeds for two days before feeding his cows, and he saw a benefit.

He is now feeding 20 to 22 pounds of sprouts a day, using about 1 pound of seed to grow 6 to 7 pounds of sprouts.

He has tried “just about every kind of grain there is,” but says that barley is the best, and triticale is also good.

Stolzfus soaks the seeds for 10 to 12 hours and then aerates them for another 10 hours. He said the aerating helps to reduce mold.

He says within a week of when he started feeding it, the cows would wait to eat their grain until the fodder was gone. He reports milk production has been steady, butterfat and protein are up, SCC has gone down, and best of all, his feed costs are down.

He also reports that with the ease of digesting fodder, his cows remain cooler in hot weather.

“The health of my cows, production and butterfat are the reasons I keep my cows on sprouts,” he said. PD

Kelli Boylen is a freelancer writer in Waterville, Iowa.

Read a related article: "Two dairymen are making profits with sprout fodder systems."

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Photo by Lynn Jaynes.