Grant Lightfoot, the Orepuki deer farmer who invented a non-polluting baleage wrap that animals can eat, has just received his first shipment of plant fibre bale netting from India.
Baleage is a way of storing forage to preserve it as livestock feed.
The big roundbales are normally fed out to dairy cows, beef cattle, sheep and deer during winter.
Until now, the wrap that holds the feed bales together has been made out of plastic.
Cows have also been known to eat discarded plastic bale netting.
“I’ve got vet photos of plastic that there’s some of the balls inside the cow’s guts,” he said.
“They can’t digest it, so they end up dying.
“Mine is made out of jute yarn, like a flax fibre, and any animal can eat it.”
Stills from a video of a cow eating baleage and the jute bale wrap. Photo / RNZ
The born-and-bred Southlander came up with the idea while working as a commercial diver on an oil rig.
“The deepest I’ve been is 865ft [263m] underwater and I’ve lived at that depth for 28 days.”
Grant Lightfoot, his favourite stag and a roll of Kiwi Econet. Photo / RNZ
While in the decompression chamber, he often thought about the farm back home and one day the lightbulb moment happened for the Econet bale wrap.
Initially, it was going to be made out of hemp fibre, but legal restrictions in the United States relating to THC – tetrahydrocannabinol, a psychoactive substance found at low levels in hemp – prevent the use of hemp and its byproducts in livestock feed.
Lightfoot tugs on the jute netting. Photo / RNZ
“So for me, if I ever wanted to export to America, it was a no-no.
