TECHNOLOGY FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE March 2025 91 “This aspiration of feeding cows fresh spouted grains daily has been years in the making. A significant milestone occurred when construction of the first facility, the Forever Feed Technologies Innovation Center, was completed in October 2024. The 10,000-square-foot building can produce up to 15 tons of fodder per day and has the capacity to feed 850 cows about ten percent of their diet. This system is onethird of the size of the planned commercial version, which will produce more than 35-tons per day in California’s environment.” California dairy farmers put a lot of their own time, effort, and money into making their farms more sustainable. Perhaps one of the most outstanding examples is Jack de Jong, Co-founder, CEO, and Chair of Forever Feed Technologies. He’s also a third-generation California dairy farmer. Inspired by the idea of growing high-quality feed with less water on his farm, Jack partnered to create the world’s largest automated sprouted grain grow system—just the start of the Forever Feed vision that’s now coming to life. Co-founded and funded by farmers, Jack’s Forever Feed Technologies is pioneering a new model for growing fresh, high-quality dairy feed year-round, using 95% less water, 99% less land, and less fuel than the status quo. The crop produced is a highly nutritious and digestible spouted grain that’s grown year-round in an indoor, automated facility. Harvested after three to six days depending on farm preferences, the sprouted grains are then pulled apart and evenly mixed into total mixed feeding rations for cows or heifers, replacing alfalfa and several other components. The company’s first facility, known as the Forever Feed Technologies Innovation Center, began operating a few months ago on Jack’s dairy in Kings County. Jack has been an early adopter of many sustainable dairy farm practices. He first came across the idea of Forever Feed when looking for forage alternatives to lower water use needs, preparing for increasingly limited groundwater and surface water availability. The initial company that was starting to grow sprouted grains for fodder ended up dissolving, but Jack still wanted to give the concept a try. He teamed up with the former CEO to create a new company—focused on creating a durable facility to meet the 24-7-365 need for nutritious livestock fodder. Other leading dairy farmers and cattle ranchers, both in California and in other states, saw promise in this vision, signing on as investors. The environmental benefits are clear. Additionally, these farm DAIRY FARMER’S STARTUP IS SPROUTING UP AND SPARKING INTEREST Jennifer Bingham Communications Director California Dairy Cares
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