Former hog farmers switch to shrimp

WASHINGTON — The Reed family, by some miracle, got out of the swine industry in early 2023, mere months before major market decked pork prices, pushing other producers well into the red.

While Ken Reed hoped to pursue something less physically taxing on the family’s farm in rural Washington County, he and his wife initially weren’t sure what to do with their out-of-use hog confinement buildings. They researched a handful of options with little success: hydroponics had high input costs and seemed far too technical, mushrooms demanded experience they didn’t have, flower production faced lots of market competition and seemed easier in a pasture. A few other ideas required a level of biosecurity not achievable in a well-ventilated livestock building.

When they found their answer, it was anything but intuitive. Roughly 900 miles from the nearest body of seawater, the Reeds would raise whiteleg shrimp.

They harvested their first batch last week.

“It’s very similar to any other livestock operation, it’s not radically different,” Reed said. “You need to take care of them every day, know what to look for, and do standard chores. Once you understand that, whether they’re in water or they’re on land, it’s basically the same.”

Central Iowa company offers equipment, experience

The family said they settled on the saltwater shrimp after hearing about a pilot project through a business called Midland Co. The Iowa-based seafood startup had two other farms already involved in its work, and eventually agreed to add the Reeds to a short list of partners.

Ken Reed said the guidance from another professional made starting a new revenue stream more attainable. He talks to Jackson Kimle — Midland’s founder and president — several times a week, and the company helped set up the aquacultural endeavor’s lights and equipment when the farm got started.

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Early Wednesday morning last week, Kimle was on the scene helping oversee the farm’s first harvest.

“We had planned on only building two of the pilot modules and then moving onto bigger farms, but (they) explained some of their experience and the vision they had for it,” he said. “It got my attention, and I certainly thought they had the capabilities to be a good long-term partner.”

Kimle said the setup in a former sow barn was a surprisingly good fit for shrimp production. The building was already well-insulated, with an existing connections to gas, water and electrical infrastructure.

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The operation is relatively small, at the moment — starting at 40,000 head of shrimp, each weighing about 20 grams apiece by harvest — but the Reed family hopes to step up production as they get a feel for it.

They estimate the operation will be profitable after roughly five years. Kimle said other growers partnering with Midland had improved their production levels dramatically with a little practice.

“The first batch from one of our tanks had 200 lbs., the second batch had 400,” he said. “It can be pretty fast.”

Organic filtering system ensures efficiency

The shrimp farming setup is sustainable largely thanks to its algae-based water treatment process.

Rather than using a sophisticated cocktail of chemical components, waste from the operation’s shrimp gets pumped into a constantly-moving vat of water filled with a patented species of algae.

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The microorganisms break down the waste — composed of nitrogen, phosphorous and carbon dioxide — and photosynthesize to capture those materials, oxidize the water, and produce more algae. That excess algae is then filtered back into the shrimp pools, where it supplements the animals’ food supply. The system gives the shrimp a more natural nutrient source, and allows producers to reuse their saltwater, rather than dealing with an expensive disposal and refilling process.

“Essentially, we’re recycling nutrients and carbon inside the system,” Kimle said. “The more important part is not having to dump your water. Usually, on shrimp farms, they dump their water every other batch. That’s a challenge, it needs to be diluted and spread over a large area.”

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Otherwise, the production process is fairly straightforward. The shrimp take 90-100 days to grow before slaughter. In their pools, the animals spend much of their lives under tinted lights that give them an appetizing, blue-gray coloration.

Once ready, a team of farmhands wades through the water with nets, putting the shrimp in a bin before dumping them into a chilled — but not frozen — bucket of water. The sudden cold snap kills the small crustaceans in about a minute, after a life spent in tropical-temperature water around 85 degrees.

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“When I interviewed seven years ago for this job, this was not mentioned,” joked Gary Cutler, who works on the Reeds’ farm, wading through knee-high saltwater for the first harvest.

The product is then driven out to a meat processing plant, where it’s packed and distributed to Midwestern grocery stores.

Reed said the output offered inland grocers a chance at fresh, never-frozen seafood in markets astoundingly far from most of the world’s seafood suppliers.

“All they’re doing is taking the heads off, they’re not deveining them at all,” he said. “They do have automated machines for that, but these two processors don’t have them yet, because nobody else has shrimp.”

Profitability on the mind as operation moves forward

There are plenty of input costs for the current three-pool setup. Reed said the equipment alone cost approximately $100,000, along with input costs for feed, water and salt. Unlike with traditional livestock, the family buys its shrimp larvae from specialized breeders, saying the animals’ mating habits were difficult to understand or control on their own farm.

Aimee Reed said the shrimp farm had decent margins, with a roughly five-year timeline before it turned a profit. The family hopes to eventually expand into the rest of the 300-foot former sow barn.

For the moment, the farmers said they were happy to have the operation off the ground. They lost a considerable amount of shrimp leading up to the first harvest — falling from 15,000 shrimp in one pool to roughly 8,000 — but expect their numbers to improve drastically on the next go-round.

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“We’ve talked expansion already,” Aimee Reed said. “I didn’t think we’d enjoy it as much as we do, but we really do … now, we’ve worked out all the kinks and the bugs, and the next turn of shrimp should be a lot better.”

There is one complication, compared to pork production.

Ken Reed is used to advocating for his product, vouching for its taste, its culinary applications and its nutritional value. That’s been a little harder to do for shrimp, as he’s allergic to shellfish.

“I can’t tell you that they’re the best-tasting I’ve ever had,” he said. “But everybody else can!”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com