The benefits and drawbacks of this next-gen feeding option

Imagine having acres upon acres of lush pastures for your horses to graze. Access to abundant grazing is likely a luxury for many horse owners and a bucket-list dream (unless you’re managing a horse with metabolic issues).

Fresh pasture is the most nutritious diet for a horse, says equine nutritionist Juliet M. Getty, PhD, owner of Getty Equine Nutrition LLC, in Denton, Texas. Unfortunately, with rising land prices and development pressures in rural areas, it’s not a reality for many equestrians.

But there is an alternative to buying land to increase the amount of fresh forage in a horse’s diet. Seed shoots sprouted in ­water—no soil needed—inside a greenhouse or an artificially lighted system in an enclosed box can boost fresh forage intake.

Known as hydroponic fodder systems, these setups allow you to grow barley, wheat, oats, and sometimes corn in reusable plastic trays. It takes about a week to produce 4 to 8 inches of green shoot growth. You can feed the entire plant or mat, including the leaves, roots, and any seeds that did not sprout, to your horse.

Research on these systems remains limited, with the most recent study, “The Effects of Hydroponic Wheat Fodder on Fecal Metabolites in Equines,” published in 2018. So, we asked three equine nutritionists to share their perspectives on the benefits and drawbacks of adding hydroponic fodder to a horse’s diet.

Nutrient Availability

Hydroponically grown fodder is not a new feeding option, but it is one that has recently sparked increased interest among horse owners. As with any feeding program, it’s important to understand the nutrients it provides—and doesn’t provide—and the implications for each horse.

“Fresh pasture grasses are highly nutritious, providing vitamins such as vitamins E, C, D, and beta carotene, which is used for producing vitamin A, as well as essential fatty acids omega-3s and -6s in their right proportion,” says Getty. “Once grasses are cut and dried to make hay, they lose these valuable nutrients. But fodder is just as plentiful as feeding a healthy pasture without needing all the acreage.”

“Once you dry forage, you also increase the nondigestible fibers,” says Kathleen Crandell, PhD, a nutritionist for Kentucky Equine Research. “I like that fodder is so full of water. It helps sneak water into the horse, and that helps the digestive tract function better, so they have a healthy gut microbiome.”

But equine nutritionists have differing perspectives on hydroponic fodder. For example, Debra Powell, PhD, PAS, does not see fodder as equal to pasture grass, because soil plays a role in plant nutrient development and hydroponic systems don’t use soil.

“Spring grass is taking up the nutrients from the soil in which it is growing, whereas the fodder is using the nutrients it has in the seed,” says Powell, an educator based in Nelsonville, Ohio, who owns and operates a mobile business specializing in noninvasive therapies and nutritional consulting for dogs and horses. “Both have a high water content, but they are not the same. You must consider the type of fodder you are growing—grain, legume, or grass—because each provides different nutrients, so you should have the sprouts analyzed for nutrient content.”

Crandell adds that sprouts grown in water lack the proper calcium and phosphorus ratios seen in soil-grown grasses because the plants are fed to horses before the shoots have matured. The recommended calcium-to-phosphorus level is > 1:1, and in fodder it is dramatically less—0.125:1. That might be fine if you continue feeding hay, particularly alfalfa, which has high calcium levels. But if you’re providing a high fodder volume, your horse will likely need vitamin and mineral supplements.

“The fodder calcium-to-phosphorus ratio can pose the risk of severe bone problems,” Crandell says. “Hay alone or the addition of a ration balancer that has enough calcium may balance that out, but it is something to keep in the back of your mind.”

One important consideration is whether to feed fodder to horses with metabolic conditions such as insulin resistance or pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction. Sprouts can be just as high in simple sugars and starch as spring pastures, Getty says.

“It would be best to grow a small amount of fodder and send it into a lab such as Equi-Analytical Labs for testing before feeding it to a horse who needs to be on a low-sugar/low-starch diet,” she says. “Depending on the results, the horse may be able to enjoy some fodder each day.”

Fodder Feeding Facts

Adding fodder to a horse’s diet requires planning, because it is not a 1:1 swap for grass or hay. Dry matter intake (DMI) is a key factor in helping horses maintain a steady weight, so the amount available in each type of forage is the biggest differentiator when it comes to ration size. Hay comprises 90% dry matter and 10% water. Pasture is made up of 20-30% dry matter and 70-80% water, and fodder only contains 15-20% dry matter.

“You can figure out how much forage to feed a horse based on the percentage of dry matter or the horse’s body weight,” Crandell says. “With fodder, using the horse’s body weight works out better.”

She offers an example to help with the calculations: Suppose you’re feeding a 1,000-pound horse forage at a rate of 2% of his body weight. That equals 22 pounds of hay daily, since it contains 90% dry matter. Fodder contains 20% dry matter, so the same 1,000-pound horse needs 100 pounds of fodder daily.

“That’s a lot of fodder. It makes you wonder if a horse can even eat that much in one day,” Crandell says. “Generally, the recommendation is to feed 1% of the horse’s body weight in dry forage and 2% in wet fodder so that the total amount equals about 20 pounds of wet fodder and roughly 10 pounds of hay.”

“Most full-sized horses will consume between 1 to 2 pounds of dry matter per hour of grazing on pasture,” adds Getty. “So, to get the same 18 pounds of dry matter from 90 pounds of fodder, which has more water than pasture, the horse would need to eat longer.”

For this reason, plus the low levels of calcium and phosphorus, all three nutritionists agree that fodder should complement rather than replace hay and grain.

“I believe that a fodder-only diet would be unsuitable for horses,” says Powell. “Fodder is very low in dry matter; horses would have to eat quite a lot of it to get the required calories. So, would a horse working at moderate to intense work survive on an all-fodder diet? Probably not. I can see fodder being used as an augmentation to the horse’s diet with the consult of an equine nutritionist to ensure the horse receives adequate nutrients for its physiological status.”

Buy it or DIY it?

What does it take to bring fodder to your barn?

You have two options: Purchase it from a grower, or do it yourself. Whether you can buy from a fodder farm likely depends on your location. For example, a Google search revealed two Wellington, Florida, area producers who sell and deliver equine fodder mats. But it is not widely available in most parts of the country and unavailable in feed supply stores because of its short shelf life. When purchasing, plan to feed within four hours of its arrival. Storing it in a cool, climate-controlled space can prolong its viability but not for long.

Growing your own fodder is another alternative. Getty says the size of the system varies and can be as small as a few containers on a windowsill or as large as a full barn or shipping container of trays. For example, Renaissance Ag makes a self-contained, fully automated system that can produce up to 2,000 pounds of fodder daily. The investment—time and money—varies dramatically based on the scale of the system.

“The seeds need to be soaked for 12 to 24 hours, then placed in plastic trays,” says Getty. “They need to be wet at all times, but not sitting in water. So, that means they must be watered several times a day.”

However, watering amounts must be precise. Too much water or failing to clean the trays properly before reuse can encourage mold growth, Crandell says, and­—as with hay—you don’t want to offer horses moldy food.

Many companies are marketing hydroponic fodder systems to horse owners. The initial investment in a system can range from a few hundred dollars to thousands, depending on the size and complexity of your system. Aside from the growing unit, Powell suggests considering the following before buying:

• Do you have the space to grow and store fodder?
• What seeds are suitable for sprouting?
• Do you have the plastic growing trays and a method for sanitizing them between each crop?
• How do you plan to water the system, and will you use an automatic timer to stop and start it?
• Does your growing space have adequate air and light and proper humidity and temperature?
• How will you power the system?
• Do you have the time to dedicate to growing sprouts or a suitable budget for hired labor?

“If you look at one website on fodder, it states that a 2-pound bag of seed makes 9 to 12 pounds of fodder in one week,” says Powell. “You will think that was fantastic, but (again) you need to look at the dry matter. Since sprouts are at least 90% water and only 10% dry matter, then 1 pound of dry matter of seed produces only 0.9 to 1.2 pounds of dry weight fodder, which is no net gain in dry matter for the horse.”

Growing your own fodder is more labor-intensive than turning your horse out on grass or walking into the feed room to mix and match concentrated feeds and supplements. Consider your available forage and feed options and which ones are most viable for your resources. “I suggest doing your research on fodder systems,” says Powell. “Contact people who have been using fodder systems to discuss their challenges and benefits. This may be a fit for people who wish to be more self-­sufficient in feed or those who do not have local sources for hay or forage. This may also fit those just wanting a readily available source of more palatable horse treat.”