Bypass now on fast track

In 1997, the Johnstons developed Sweetbulk - a horse feed made predominantly from oat hulls, a by-product of milling oats for human consumption - after recognising a demand for a "complete" feed within their own horses.

A plant at Baradine - originally built for Rich Meats to use CSIRO technology to change the taste of lamb - was set to close down due to a depressed cattle market, however, Mr Johnston saw an opportunity.

The couple leased the plant, eventually bought it, and is now the home of Bypass and Sweetbulk feeds.

"Within a couple weeks of taking over the mill we started producing Sweetbulk," Mr Johnston said.

A combination of oat hulls, protein meal, oils, molasses, vitamins, minerals and a mould inhibitor were mixed to form Sweetbulk.

"The feed contains a portion of non-digestible roughage, which helps to prevent the build up of sand in the gut and reduces the risk of colic," Mr Johnston said. "Because it's a moist product we added the mould inhibitor to make it last longer and stop it from going mouldy."

In the early stages of producing Sweetbulk, Mr Johnston said horse owners from the La Perouse and Kernell areas of Sydney were travelling to Western Sydney to purchase the feed to prevent sand colic.

"Our original idea was not to do this but it was purely by accident we found it, which was a welcome additional benefit."

"We have a bit of a sand issue out here so that was causing problems in the horses' guts so we needed to find a way to clean them out," Mrs Johnston said.

"The moist product is much more palatable but the oils stop it from sticking together while the oat hulls provide the taste of oats without the fizz it generally gives horses."

A misconception about the feed, Mr Johnston said, was it was full of sugar.

"It's not the case. There is less than five per cent sugar in the whole feed compared to prime lucerne chaff or even grass hay which can have up to 15pc sugar content."

In 2001, the Johnston family purchased the Bypass product line and hit the ground running.

The family now produce eight products for cattle and sheep, including a drylick and feedlot rations, as well as groats, which are graded, hulled and cleaned oats for the bird seed industry.

"In 2002 and 2003 we had very big years with a big turnover because of the drought," Mr Johnston said.

Similarly, in January and February the family was working two 12-hour shifts a day, six days a week and processing 100 tonnes of feed a day to keep up with demand.

"We had huge demand for the high protein, low volume stock licks because they make the stock utilise old rough grass that's not usually eaten."

The Johnston family have now gained approval to sell their Green Feed and Calf Ration products into New Zealand and Japan, respectively.