Our Friends Are Successful With Commercial Aquaponics
In contrast to other aquaponics trainers who offer you photos of greenhouses under construction, websites under construction, or minimal aquaponics farms that can only produce a part-time income, our farmer Friends are earning their living from growing aquaponic produce using our commercial aquaponic system designs. You can too! Some examples follow on this page, with photos:
For a partial listing (we only have 20 farms on the list at the moment) of our students successfully operating commercial aquaponics farms for a living, including their website and contact information, please click here. We’re in the process of turning this list into a nicely formatted photo gallery organized by type of climate the farmer is in, so keep in touch if you want to know more!
(Below) Mark and Fran Krause’s Aquaponic Solar Greenhouse of our design in Wisconsin in January, 2017; about 5:30 pm as the sun is going down; 5 degrees outside, 72 degrees air temperature inside! They grow year-round in this energy-efficient greenhouse. Not only do they earn a part-time income from it, but also use it continuously to introduce school children to the basic science behind aquaponics.
Mark Krause here…..a student in 2013 at Randy’s place. We exchanged a number of emails as I prepared to build my commercial system. It is done and operational, albeit more work needs to be done.
Great info. While we have only been selling for 8 weeks now, we are averaging around $400 per week AND could sell more if we had the product. Your training and materials have been quite helpful but there is nothing like “just doing it” to realize just how much you have to learn. Our entire family is involved, father-mother-daughters-son-granddaughter-grandson-Baxter(the family dog). -Mark Krause, Windy Drumlins Farm
(Below) Zac Hosler’s operation in Honaunau, Hawaii; with 3,600 square feet of aquaponics trough.
(Zac Hosler): I am doing $1,500 a week (gross income) right now in the middle of the slow season. Some weeks better and some weeks a little less. If we have a good busy season this winter my yearly average should be more like $1750 to $1850 per week average.
(Editor’s note: Zac explains these “low” numbers as a result of loving his son Noah and having to spend a lot of time away from the farm taking Noah to chemo and radiation treatments on an island that is a $600 plane ride away for both of them from where he lives): I am gone from my farm a lot due to taking my 5 year old son Noah from our island to Oahu regularly for chemo treatments. As you know Noah was diagnosed with Leukemia back in October. I am gone a lot. My loss due to pest and weather etc. went from 5 or 6% to upwards of 15 to 20%. For example, I was gone on Oahu for a month straight a while back. While gone my crew kept things afloat but let bug infestation happen with several crops. By the time I got home all of my Bok Choi (one of 4 or 5 crops I normally grow) was trashed. -Zac Hosler, Living Aquaponics Farm
Click here for much more information about Zac’s farm and his journey to becoming a successful commercial aquaponic farmer.
(Below) Steffi Lee at the beach in Hawaii on a “day off” while interning at our farm.
Steffi Lee came to intern on our farm in March of 2010 while recovering from surgery to remove a large tumor in her brain. A single mother of two girls, she was determined to change her life to include aquaponics. After finishing the internship with flying colors, she returned to Taiwan, where she borrowed money from her mother and sold her house to build the first commercial aquaponics farm in Taiwan.
Steffi was taking a risk for sure, but in July 2013, a Taiwan TV station ran a program on her farm, and the floodgates opened. Steffi was recognized as the first person to bring aquaponics to Taiwan, and was invited to give talks on aquaponics at schools, universities, and to the media. She was even invited to give a talk at the Presidential Palace! She has given farm tours to over 5,000 people, has designed and is selling an easy to use DIY aquaponics kit, and is teaching commercial aquaponics courses to Taiwanese residents and groups that come from overseas.
She was recruited by the Taiwan University Of Science And Technology to teach aquaponics and eco-environment classes there; and is currently building a commercial aquaponics farm with a Chinese partner in China.
Click here for more information and photos of Steffi Lee’s farm and aquaponic journey.
(Below) Richard Archer’s Cloudreach Aquaponics Farm in St. Thomas, Barbados, West Indies.
(Richard Archer): I know that one of the main things you warned about in the June 2013 course in Tennessee was to build small and expand once you’ve mastered the system. Well, in my enthusiasm, in local surfer parlance, I “dropped in steep”. I planned and built a full commercial system.
It has been hard, grueling, frustrating and tedious, but after 18 months of learning the hard way, I am turning out our first crop of 5500 heads of lettuce. I have landed an unlimited supply contract with the local supermarket chain with 7 locations and supply deals with the best restaurant on the island (www.thecliffbarbados.com). We now have eight functioning prodctive troughs and have built an additional 8 which we plan to commission in the next couple of weeks. -Richard Archer, Cloudreach Aquaponics Farm
(Below) Tim Sewell and Amigos For Christ’s operation in Nicaragua.
(Below) Tim Sewells moringa, growing in the ground nearby (watered with aquaponic system water).
(Tim Sewell): Your plans have been used on my project through Amigos for Christ here in Nicaragua to help feed the 900+ poor school children that they feed daily. I completed the 1024 s.f. system according to your plans and everything worked as promised. I have been involved in construction for many years and these plans along with your manual lacked nothing. I never needed to call you for help…..
Thanks for all of your help and your product exceeds your claims. I would recommend building your system to anyone, because it is easy to build and if you follow the plans and specs, it will operate like it is supposed to. Very best regards,
-Tim Sewell, Volunteer Project Manager, Amigos for Christ in Nicaragua