VIASPACE Inc. has been working intensively on growing Giant King® Grass (GKG) in California at the VIASPACE nursery, the University of California Desert Research and Extension Center, and with partner Almaden Energy Group, LLC (AEG) for the past six months. This report outlines the progress so far in this effort. A detailed analysis of GKG for animal feed has been conducted using GKG grown at the VIASPACE nursery and independently at University of California research farm in Holtville, CA.

This study, done in concert with professional agronomists and animal nutritionists, helped determine the optimum time to harvest so as to maximize yield and feed value and thus revenue. The study included analysis of dozens of samples, taken at various maturities, for the yield as well as for the concentration of over thirty different nutrients and minerals. Peak nutritional value and yield versus maturity were determined.

In addition to the nutrition studies, GKG at UC Holtville was mechanically harvested using a conventional swather, dried in the field and then baled into hay. Some GKG bales were sent to a local dairy for feed trials and some were used to produce animal feed pellets using a commercial pellet company. The pellets were analyzed for nutritional content and palatability.

Animal feed can be used in the form of fresh chopped GKG, silage, hay or pellets. Samples of GKG from multiple harvests in 2015 have been provided to local farmers and successfully fed to cows, goats and pigs. The nutrition analysis shows that GKG is also suitable for horses.