Four years ago i established an automatic hydroponics system (that time even my folks wondered what i had been consuming back in the city) and below are my findings;
a) Materials one can use are maize,barley, wheat and sorghum(This one caused serious bloat and i lost a few goats)
b)Milk production levels actually fell even after increase in rations!
c)Aflatoxin/Mould is a real livestock killer..This stuff is real tricky to control unless using trays that have grooves. Soaking the seeds in a 0.05% Chlorine solution seemed to help. The downside to this is that the farm-hand would decide the dosing erratically causing more issues
d) While the concept looks glossy from the marketers point of view, my pilot proved otherwise. It is not economically feasible on most farms considering the availability of alternative feeds. Also a proper set-up with the micro sprinklers, timing system, humidity and temperature control and the right plastic trays will set you back a cool 1 million (i can share the BOM) compare this to leasing 10 acres of land at 10k per year, growing maize and making silage that will last you atleast 3 years with 20 cows.However in dry regions do go for it.
e)Never ever and i mean NEVER let smokers near your hydroponics unit, utalia mwenyewe.
f) Erratic power supply messes up the unit
g)If you are a tele-farmer wachana na hii maneno
h)Get proper trays if you want to avoid issues
i) Do proper research, i gained alot from South American sites (Brazil, Argentina) Google translate will come in handy but those fellows use this technology well, Indian sites were also quite valuable.
j) Obtain good quality clean grains and you will have saved yourself alot of headache
k) Kama una swali uliza na pia i can assist you design systems from 50kg upto 2.5 tonnes of fodder daily (Provided a few browns come my way)