Traditional aquaculture requires land, time, and fairly large startup and maintenance cost. There is a demand for economically friendly alternatives, as well as options for first time farmers. Aquaponics combines hydroponics and aquaculture so farmers can produce both fish and plant. It does not require a pond or large plot of land and the operation can be as small or as large as the farmers demand. Aquaponics is currently the hottest topic in aquaculture and many farmers are looking into it full time or as supplemental income, therefore, we have two workshops planned. The first will be held on Friday, July 20, and will cover basic aquaponic information and include a tour to a commercial aquaponic facility. We capped the workshop to 50 people and it filled up in a week. Due to the interest, we will be planning a repeat workshop in the fall for the ones who cannot attend. We also have 2 IBCponic build workshop scheduled for Saturday, July 21 and Saturday, August 4. We were granted money for 20 IBCponic systems ($400 per system) and will have 10 people attend on each day. This workshop filled up within in 2 days. We would also like to do a repeat workshop in fall if we can get more funding. 

We will be doing follow up visits (if they are in KY or have them send us photos and reports if they live out of state) for participates in the build workshop and see how their systems are doing.