"We've been doing hydroponics and vertical farming for about five years," says Ahmed Fawzy, CEO of Taza Farms. "We originally grew for human food, supplying London's top restaurants and hotels. We wanted to do something with more impact, so we took our hydroponics experience into animal feed."

That decision led to Taza's first full-scale pilot at Hunsingo Dairy in Groningen, the Netherlands. "This pilot became our first paying customer," Fawzy says. "The feedback has been better than we hoped. The cows went for the fodder straight away, farmers noticed it's easier to digest, and our system delivered a fresh, consistent supply every single day."

By growing fodder on-site year-round, farmers and ranchers can avoid supply chain disruptions, sourcing issues and spikes in hay prices

With its appearance at the 2022 National Western Stock Show in Denver, FarmBox Foods announced the development of a hydroponic system that enables ranchers and farmers to grow nutrient-rich feed onsite year-round. The shipping container-based fodder farm will be released beginning in mid-2022