Mountain Sky Micro-Greens – Give Us the Numbers!
OK, what about the MONEY? The Cash! Mula! Mucho Dinero! So here’s the skinny. This is as good as or better than some of our friends say the funny weed money is. Yep, that’s what I hear. So here goes.
Here in Northern Colorado, we are paying anywhere from $300/ton or $0.15/lb. to $500/ton or $0.25/lb. for grass or grass/alfalfa mix hay. Everyone thinks it will be going to $600/ton ($0.30/lb.) by the end of 2012.
We are producing our barley and wheat micro-greens (fodder) for between $0.06/lb. to $0.07/lb. and we will be selling it for around $0.12/lb.
Here is the breakdown:
- seed cost – $0.025 – $0.03/lb. of harvested grass
- labor cost – $0.03/lb. (3 hours per day for 1000 lb. for planting, monitoring, maintenance and harvesting)
- energy cost – $0.002/lb. ($5/day for air conditioning/heat, light, and water pumping)
Matt loading up micro-greens to feed to our animals
The most important variable in the costs above it the multiplier of harvest weight versus the planting weight. For every pound of seed planted our goal is to produce 5 lb. of grass. When that multiplier moves up or down, it greatly affects the cost of production. But here is the cool thing, we have been getting consistent harvests with multipliers greater than 6.0 and a number of days have been over 7.0. We have even had several days with multipliers over 8.0. We firmly believe that as we refine our production process we will be able to achieve that 7.0 multiplier consistently, we just need to keep on using the best equipment from supplier like https://www.cir.net/agriculture-harvester-products/.
So what would you rather spend, $0.25/lb. for inconsistent quality, dry, spindly hay or $0.06-$0.11/lb. for green, nutritious, easy to feed wheat or barley micro-greens (fodder). Oh, I almost forgot, that hay probably uses over 5 gal. of water/lb. of production and the micro-greens will take less than 1 gal./lb. of water with most of that being taken up by the grass. This is an 80% water savings! Water in the west is gold, and when you can produce livestock feed with this little water you are being as sustainable as you can be. You can check out https://www.choosegreenergrass.com/ for organic lawn care services to get a weed-free and healthier harvest.
In no way are we there yet in our micro-green production. We have much to learn and more money and water to save. There is also an automation in agriculture has brought a new generation of transplanters with high efficiency. But, we have learned a lot and with almost a year of full-time research under our belts we are ready to provide our knowledge to the the livestock world. We are looking for both financial and operating partners for our Donoma Si livestock feed program. We are offering licensing opportunities, consulting services and custom construction services. For as little as $349 you can participate in our Sustainable Livestock Education Program.
Contact us today to discuss how you could partner with us in this opportunity.
6 Responses 
What do you provide in your education program?
Would love more info, would like to build a system that is expandable this spring…starting with 10 alpacas, to as many as 30 in 2 years. Please contact me to schedule a meeting, phone consultation, I would love to come take a look at your setup! Thanx,
Dan
1.i am from India, i have enough land to produce such cattle feeding grass. hv u got any plan for me.please suggest me.
2.can i produce it in India and export to other countries, does it cost me more.or it will be posible ,
3. is there enough demand exist in other countries for such product to feeding cattle like, cow , pig , goat etc.
Thank you for contacting us! Please get in touch with our office and we’d be happy to discuss your options.
Would like to arrange a call to discuss your hydroponic micro-green growing system.
Hi Richard,
Thanks for your interest in hydroponic system. I will inform my team and someone will get in touch with you soon. You may also use the link provided here to schedule a call with us.
http://www.bookfresh.com/index.html?id=92ef752d9fe86412bf2de02fc9cbbe7f&wi=7&view=button_dispatcher
Looking forward to getting in touch with you soon.
Thanks.