Search
Better Farming OntarioBetter PorkBetter Farming Prairies

Better Pork Featured Articles

Better Pork magazine is published bimonthly. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


Hog barn becomes fish farm

Thursday, February 18, 2010

by BRIAN LOCKHART
 
Ontario farmers fishing for a new use for an idled barn might consider filling it with water. But be prepared for some hefty costs for the retrofit.

Grant Vandenberg, president of the Interprovincial Partnership for Sustainable Freshwater Aquaculture Development, says hog and chicken barns are particularly suited for a conversion to a giant fish tank – with “some serious retrofitting.” The federal organization promotes and researches sustainable freshwater aquaculture.

“Usually these are long narrow barns that have some sort of a gutter system that we could re-utilize in some form or another,” he says. “These are usually 40 to 60 foot wide buildings and around 200 feet long.”

The design lends itself to the raceway track style that is required to keep water moving through a filtration system.

“You have a rounded end on one side and a wall in the middle,” Vandenberg explains, “On the other side you have a water treatment facility so the water is continuously moving around in that circuit. To have a recirculation system you have mechanical filtration, bio-filtration, you have to add oxygen and there’s sterilization going on there as well.”

An IPSFAD-sponsored pilot project in Warren, Manitoba has turned a former hog barn into a 980-cubic meter production tank. It begins operation in March.

It cost $1,185, 501 to get the project off the ground. That included provincial and federal matching grants, each more than $300,000. The farm’s owners contributed $350,000 in existing infrastructure and $280,000 in input and operating costs.

Fish farming is a growing industry in Ontario with around 10 million pounds produced annually - almost all of it Rainbow Trout.

It is traditionally accomplished by using cages in open water or in ponds and lakes in a land-based operation.

In Ontario, most of these farms are located in the north and are limited to native species such as Rainbow Trout, says Karen Tracey, executive director of the Northern Ontario Aquaculture Association. A switch to contained and controlled tank production could open the door to adding different species, she says.

Farm-raised fish meet or exceed the nutritional value of those caught in lakes and oceans. A 2002 report by the Aquaculture Centre at the University of Guelph, farm-raised fish are of a higher quality than those caught in the wild.

“Most of our farms are antibiotic free,” Tracey says. “Farmed fish are actually privileged in what they eat compared to wild fish. For the last thirty or forty years there has been huge research through the University of Guelph into food nutrition for farm raised fish.”

The majority of farm-raised fish in Ontario supplies grocery store chains in the province and in Quebec, with some finding its way to the U.S. market. BF
 

Current Issue

October 2024

Better Pork Magazine

Farms.com Swine News

Taslar Trading Corp. gets new grain dealer license

Thursday, October 31, 2024

A grain company in Saskatchewan received a new license from the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) after letting a previous license expire days before. On Oct. 23, Taslar Trading Corp., received a grain dealer license from the CGC for its location in Regina, Sask., the CGC’s website... Read this article online

40 Agriculture Groups Urge Senate to Reject Bill C-282

Thursday, October 31, 2024

Forty of Canada's leading agriculture and agri-food groups sent a letter today to the Senate urging them to reject Bill C-282. Bill C-282 is an Act to amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act (supply management). "This bill risks handcuffing Canada’s... Read this article online

Innovating Crop Nutrition with AI and Biologicals

Thursday, October 31, 2024

Chad Mangan, national sales director for NutriAg, recently shared information on how to mitigate crop stress and to maximize yields during the 2024 Great Ontario Yield Tour event in Chesterville, Ontario. NutriAg, a Canadian crop nutrition company, focuses on optimizing nutrient... Read this article online

Boosting Soybean Yields with Advanced Agronomy Techniques

Thursday, October 31, 2024

Strategic nutrient management and the impact of environmental conditions on soybean growth was the focus of a recent presentation by Shaun Casteel, Associate Professor of Agronomy at Purdue University, during his presentation 'Setting and Expanding on Foundations to Maximize Soybean Yield'... Read this article online

BF logo

It's farming. And it's better.

 

a Farms.com Company

Subscriptions

Subscriber inquiries, change of address, or USA and international orders, please email: subscriptions@betterfarming.com or call 888-248-4893 x 281.


Article Ideas & Media Releases

Have a story idea or media release? If you want coverage of an ag issue, trend, or company news, please email us.

Follow us on Social Media

 

Sign up to a Farms.com Newsletter

 

DisclaimerPrivacy Policy2024 ©AgMedia Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Back To Top