Dec. 4, ’15: Host Tom Willey and Mario Daccarett discuss one daring dairyman’s remarkable innovation. Mario Daccarett

Familiarity with sprouted wheat grass found in every neighborhood health food store provides some reasonable idea of what a handful of pioneering dairy farmers are up to sprouting barley on an industrial scale for cows, sheep and goats. Golden Valley Farm’s Mario Daccarett shelled out $45,000 for a temperature-controlled, insulated van, about the size of a small bedroom, equipped with grow lights. Six-inch-tall grass mats that emanate like clockwork, 365 days-a-year, from this FodderWorks unit, according to Mario, replace 100 acres of alfalfa hay he previously fed to 350 sheep. Could such indoor fodder systems be embraced by our region’s large dairy operators?

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