By Laura AmRhein, Marketing Communications Manager, JR Automation, a Hitachi group company
Farmers increasingly wrestle with economic headwinds and regulatory restrictions governing their use of water and land resources. The challenges are particularly acute for farms that produce animal-based foods like dairy and meat. Most of the crops they raise to feed herds can only be planted seasonally on arable, irrigated land. What’s more, producing animal-based products is resource-intensive; in fact, the care and feeding of livestock remains the biggest use of land in the U.S.1
At the same time, cattle are a leading source of methane - a potent greenhouse gas - producing between 154 and 264 pounds of methane per cow annually2. Reducing these emissions has become a critical focus in the push for sustainability. For instance, California—the largest U.S. state and a trendsetter in public policy—has set a goal to reduce methane emissions by 40% by the end of this decade3.
These converging factors underscore the need for solutions that promote more sustainable animal feed production. Innovative, energy-efficient feed production systems not only provide significant cost savings but also enhance production efficiencies, reduce operational expenses, and ultimately benefit farmers' bottom lines.
Fortunately, such solutions are now within reach. Technological advancements are empowering farmers to automate the growing process, utilizing smaller land footprints and significantly less water. These innovations have the potential to help farmers achieve substantial reductions in water consumption, feed costs, and methane emissions—key components of a sustainable agricultural future.
With most farms still family-owned and operated, working on razor thin profit margins, it’s vital that every investment yields reliable returns – and that means systems must be simple, reliable, and capable of operating 100% of the time as cows need to eat every day.
Spearheading the effort is Forever Feed Technologies (FFT), which partnered with JR Automation (JRA), a Hitachi group company, on a project to automate on-farm controlled environment feed mills for large-scale dairy and beef cattle producers. Over the course of a year, FFT engineering, livestock, and feed experts met weekly with engineering, automation, and applications experts from JRA to develop a custom-automated system that delivers a consistent supply of high-quality feed year-round to feed thousands of dairy and beef cattle.
In a 14,000 square foot facility a single FFT Feed Mill can produce up to 75,000 lbs. of high quality, fresh feed every day of the year regardless of outside conditions or other environmental factors.
The feed mills deploy a proprietary racking system as well as a proprietary seed and feed formula called Automated Sprouted Grain (ASG) a sprouted wheat grass supplement that improves cattle health, increases milk production efficiencies, and reduces methane emissions. It’s also a clean feed made with no pesticides or herbicides. Importantly, it requires 95% less water, 99% less land, and needs no mechanical equipment to harvest.
The system ensures feed trays are where they need to be. It also provides optimum conditions for the seeds in a greenhouse environment, ensuring the right amount of light, water, and temperature for growing. In this way, crops are not subject to the vagaries of drought conditions or severe weather that suddenly pass through.
The first full-scale FFT Feed Mill and Research Center will be in operation later this year at the River Ranch Dairy in Hanford, California, enriching the diets of dairy cows at the prototype site.
Though still in the early stages of adoption, this technology holds great promise for providing farmers with new levels of flexibility—especially in regions with challenging climates where traditional feed crops cannot be grown. By creating controlled growing conditions, farmers can now produce feed in regions that previously relied on imports.
Moreover, the system has been engineered to a point where the team is confident that it can be consistently operational for decades. It’s also attracting a lot of interest. An investment coalition of 15 major dairy and beef producers from California, Texas, Indiana, and Michigan has thrown its support behind the project4. When the future installations of the technology are complete, the group expects it will result in saving billions of gallons of water while significantly reducing the climate impact from feeding cattle.
The project dovetails with Hitachi’s broader mission to help businesses deliver better products to consumers and make businesses more sustainable. It fits perfectly into our mission to meet the challenges posed by reduced available land and water for farming, along with our work on reducing carbon emissions, and creating more sustainable companies – and farms. On one hand, the system aims to reduce diesel emissions or any of the other harvesting or transportation-related components. At the same time, this will create growing conditions where farmers previously couldn't grow things.
These innovations have the potential for immediate impact while also serving as a foundation for future initiatives. The technology's applications are not limited to beef and dairy feeds—it could also revolutionize global feed systems and markets. As adoption spreads, this technology could pave the way for more sustainable human food production in the future.
Learn more about this collaboration between JR Automation and Forever Feed Technologies.
Marketing Communications Manager, JR Automation, a Hitachi group company
Laura AmRhein is the Marketing Communications Manager for JR Automation, overseeing brand marketing, content development, customer experience, and corporate communications.
Laura brings over 30-years of experience in B2B and B2C marketing, across a wide range of industries and applications, worldwide. Her experience in brand and product marketing, product management, competitive intelligence, and market development help guide branding and content development to elevate JR Automation in both internal and external marketing and communications tools.
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