What is better about the beef produced by this farming system?
The beef produced by our system is free of added growth hormones and antibiotics. The cattle are fed a diet of barley grass, distillers mash, fresh water and stillage water. It is expected that beef cattle will gain weight at extraordinary rates of almost 4 pounds per day without the use of hormones and steroids, because the process which the feedstock goes through makes the nutrients more available to the digestive system.

What has been the problem with maintaining cattle in confinement barns and what is your solution?
Two main problems with confinement barns are how to dispose of the manure and how to deal with the moist heat generated by cattle. Our barns will be atmospherically controlled using a fresh air exchange system. This system is designed to capture and use excess heat and to remove unwanted moisture. The manure and bedding straw is removed from the pens and destroyed in the gasifier/burner that provides heat energy for the ethanol production and the hydroponic feed system.

Where will you be getting your feeder calves & will you know their history?
We expect to be getting our calves from natural beef herds. The calves are tagged at birth and a history is maintained of their life and every injection they are given so we will be able to maintain a database for tracking purposes.

What age are the cattle & how long will you keep them?
The beef cattle are expected to be brought in when they weigh about 700-800 lbs (approximately 8 months old) and our feeding cycle is anticipated to be approximately 100 to 120 days.

What is the target market for the beef you produce?
There is a significant domestic market for hormone-free beef, which is growing as more people become aware of the dangers of eating meat from animals that have been fed growth hormones, steroids and/or antibiotics. There is also a large demand for this beef in European Union countries. Present E.U. regulations call for hormone-free cattle for their consumer markets.

What is the capacity of the cattle barn?
The cattle barn at the Oyama test facility has been designed to comfortably accommodate 200 head of cattle and the hydroponics barley-grass growing system. The Company expects to expand the size of the cattle barn in future facilities to accommodate 400 head of cattle for economy of scale. The Company believes the additional heat energy that will be generated as a result of this expansion makes it feasible to develop renewable energy generation systems.

What is unique about your cattle feeding process?
The most obvious is the more nutritious barley grass that is grown within our hydroponic system. There is a drastic insufficiency of grassland in the world today, as land must be used for more intensive farming in the attempt to feed the escalating world population. We believe the production from each hydroponic unit in a 400-head facility is approximately equivalent to what can be produced on 800 acres of grass growing land.

How much barley grass is produced daily with your hydroponic system? Is it economical?
We expect the full-scale hydroponic system will produce approximately 15 pounds of barley grass per head on a daily basis. The cost of operating the hydroponic system is minimal because the energy required for the heat comes from the gasifier/burner.