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 most popular topic in aquaculture and many farmers are looking into it full time or as supplemental income, therefore, we had two workshops.

The first was held on Friday, July 20, and covered basic aquaponic information, included tours to a commercial aquaponic facility and the KSU aquaponic systems, and provided an aquaponic lunch that featured lettuce and tilapia grown in aquaponics. We had ~50 people attend and attendee’s experience ranged from aquaponic producers to individuals just wanting information.

We also had 2 IBCponic build workshops Saturday, July 21 and Saturday, August 4. We were granted money for 20 IBCponic systems and had 10 people attend on each day. This workshop filled up within in 2 days. Both build workshops were a success, participants built IBCponic systems in the morning and in the afternoon, they were taught water quality, troubleshooting problems, and fish/plant management.