Robbie Deans - Goondiwindi QLD

"If I didn't have that regular feed supply, I would not have an animal left on the place," said Mr Deans who invested in a portable sprouting system manufactured in Toowoomba by Fodder Solutions.

"It's just like having access to a fresh paddock of barley 52 weeks a year.  And the beauty is it takes just six days from seeding to feeding"  The self-contained unit can produce 240 kg of matted sprouts a day to feed stock on his 450 ha native pasture block on the outskirts of town.

"I used to buy semi-trainer loads of hay and put grain through a hammer mill to keep the stock going.  But there was just no money in it.  Now 10 tonnes of barley does me pretty much a whole year.  It's so much cheaper and the stock do really well."

Mr Deans said it took about one and a half hours a day to load out and re-seed the trays with fresh grain for sprouting. "I just throw it out on the ground and the stock come running.  They just love it."

He has a small herd of Santa Gertrudis cows to produce weaner steers for feedlots and a flock of Dorper Sheep for prime lamb. "I wasn't originally intending to feed sprouts to the sheep.  But it keeps the ewes in good condition and they milk really well.  This is good natural fattening country as long as we et the rain.  But the stock still come looking for the sprouts every day, even if there is plenty of feed in the paddock."

"The Sprouting system is so flexible.  We can shut it down if we are going away for a few days and match our production to the level of pasture availability"