Hog farmer dives into aquaculture

By MICHEL ELBEN
Staff Writer

DOVER, Del. ─ Selling his hogs to raise fish may seem like a whopper itself, but that’s just what Columbia, Mo., farmer Ellis Dieckhoff decided to do when he converted his hog barns to hatcheries.
“I’d farmed all my life, but I got in my mind that I was done with the hog industry and I sold my hogs at eight cents a pound,” Dieckhoff told a group of farmers at the Profiting From a Few Acres Conference on Dec. 12. Dieckhoff also raises row crops along with sunfish.
Dieckhoff said he leased his buildings in 2003 and then got bored. His wife started raising hot house tomatoes. “That didn’t work, so we tried something else,” he said.
“I wasn’t giving up,” said Dieckhoff. “So I found out there was a market for fish in Kansas City. It’s just another thing I was trying to make the building pay for itself and generate some income.”
In 2006, Dieckhoff applied for a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education grant. The SARE grants aim to promote sustainable farming and help farmers diversify.
Dieckhoff won $6,000, the maximum amount available through the SARE program. The grant covered half his costs and gave him peace of mind because he was not taking a huge financial risk.
“You’ve got to have two of everything for backup,” he said.
“I learned what not to do  ─ quick,” he said. After five years of growing fish, Dieckhoff identified several keys to make the operation work:
Do your homework before
Find somebody who knows what’s going on. Get a mentor!
Set a budget you can afford to lose, you might lose it
Inspect the gills for good health   
Set goals low, start small
Control your water quality
Round tanks clean better
“Good water quality is the key to raising good fish,” Dieckhoff said. Dieckhoff said he recycles the water every 20 minutes to settle the waste and exchanges the water every 30 minutes.
Dieckhoff plans to test outdoor ponds for larger fish, and he expressed interest in the bass market.
“I sell to Bass Pro Shop, they need feeder fish,” he said.
“There’s very little fertilizer in fish,” Dieckhoff said. “Feed supply for the fish is an obstacle, but the market is out there.”
Charles Hicks, Lincoln University Aquaculture Extension specialist from Jefferson City, Mo., said farmers interested in branching out to aquaculture should consider how many tanks and how many gallons of water would be needed on farm.
“You’ve got to consider what you can do with the resources you have,” Hicks said.
“Then, you want to know what’s floating in the pond and that you have good recirculation,” he said. “Get a specialist that has drawings and blueprints,”he said.
Hicks also suggested researching the niche markets in the region.
“The tricky problem with raising fish is that you’ve got to have them 12 months out of the year,” said Hicks.
“Right now a good niche is grass carp ─ and it eats algae.”