I don't see the cost of feed being an impediment at all. For example, consider the wholesale value of a 1" BG at 10 cents each FOB the commercial distributor. Growing 311,000 BG where feed provides all the sustenance to grow them will be 369 lbs of feed fed from day 7 to day 33. So even at a buck fifty for the feed, there is only 554 dollars in feed to grow 31,000 dollars of wholesale fish. So even if they didn't need the feed during the first 33 days ... they could flush all that feed down a toilet instead without affecting the bottom line much. I am a very reasonable man and there is no way I wouldn't feed if the conditions warranted feeding. I also wouldn't try to fix something that wasn't broken. I would apply good reason and do what is necessary when it is necessary.
So look, all I tried to do is point the OP to a paper with a recipe for fertilization and a recommended stocking rate for brooders. Trying to keep things simple, I would still recommend doing only this and taking the results (whatever they are) in 45 to 60 days, rinsing and repeating, to get as many small BG recruits as I could into the lake during spawning season. So, I get that this doesn't suit you primarily because it doesn't match the biologist's recommendation. But you have deviated significantly from the paper. You are only trying to grow 50,000 BG per cycle. They are trying to grow 250,000 BG from 1" to 2" or 311,000 BG from swim up to 1". You are trying to grow the BG from swim up to 3". So I will defer to you for this effort but the white paper will be no help for him to accomplish what you are demanding.
The OP must rely on your expert advice in order produce the 100,000 3" BG that you say your advice will yield. You need to lay it out for him or he will fail. He needs to understand how to do it, how much to feed and when to feed it particularly because green water alone will not get him there. If you don't do this, then your comments don't matter much and they just come across as urinating in his tea. So lay it out for him and help him succeed at meeting your expectations.
So then if the OP constructs his 1 acre hatchery pond, after following your protocol we can say he was successful if he has produced 100,000 3" BG in two cycles.
