Automated Hydroponic Production of Animal Fodder

As the world’s population grows in number and wealth the demand for animal protein will outstrip the sustainable supply. Global food production needs to increase by 70 percent by 2050 in order to feed an additional 2.3 billion people. The UK government’s Foresight Project Global Food and Farming Futures explored the increasing pressures on the global food system between now and 2050, highlighting the need for urgent action and for a redesign of the global food system to meet the challenge of feeding the world. Grazing land and cropland producing animal feed represents almost 80% of all agricultural land and about 8 % of global water use, primarily for irrigation. World demand for animal protein is rising sharply but the resources to feed significantly greater numbers of livestock are insufficient. There is an emerging opportunity to find new methods of increasing the production of animal feed from other than natural resources (field cultivation). This project will examine the feasibility of automating the hydroponic growing process to produce animal fodder.