Sprouts image by Jan Huber on unsplash.com

Central Valley dairy and ag companies are investing in green technology to grow animal feed indoors.

Forever Feed Technologies, based in Hanford and American Fork, Utah, has announced a “multimillion-dollar” investment from a group of dairy agriculture leaders to develop sustainable, enterprise-scale automated indoor feed mills.

The funding comes, in part, from River Ranch Farms in Hanford, Bar 20 Dairy in Kerman, Producers Dairy Products in Fresno and De Jong Family Farms in Francesville, Indiana.

The investment, the terms of which were not disclosed, will go toward building the largest and most reliably controlled mills, capable of feeding thousands of animals with fresh feed year-round, enabling producers to strategically expand operations to meet growing demands, according to a news release.

“We’re pleased to have assembled some of the most respected dairy and agriculture leaders in the country to participate in our funding round.  Forever Feed is committed to building world class water-saving technology that will allow our customers, anywhere in the world, to sustainably grow cattle feed 365-days a year,” said Forever Feed Technologies CEO Steve Lindsley.

Forever Feed Technologies partnered with international automation and engineering design firms to bring its system to market. Bar 20 Dairy owner Steve Shehadey said the company is committed to building a sustainable future for the next generations.

“The Forever Feed Mill solution will provide a predictive water-saving and decarbonizing platform that we believe will enhance the output and welfare for our animals while reducing the environmental impact here in the greater Fresno area and potentially all around the world,” Shehadey said.

This isn’t the only indoor dairy feed project under development in the Central Valley.

HydroGreen, headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has proprietary technology to grow cattle feed in hydroponic greenhouses.  HydroGreen is partnering with J. & D. Sons Dairy in Riverdale to build a feed center on its property, from which the dairy would purchase 24 tons of sprouted grains a day.

Johann Dairy in Fresno also contracted with HydroGreen for a share in the feed center, with plans to buy 10 tons of feed a day.

Each feed system produces about 34 tons a day.