Economic risk of commercial catfish production practices.

The U.S. catfish industry has adopted several production practices which embody varying degrees of economic risk. Employing commercial farm data, this study quantified the economic risks associated with six catfish food fish production strategies. Stochastic Monte Carlo simulations employing established enterprise budgets found fish yield, feed price, and feed conversion ratio contributing highly to variations in the cost of production. While multiple-batch (MB) farming of channel catfish was the least risky strategy, both MB and intensively aerated production were stochastically dominant (second-order) to low-intensity single-batch production. Split-pond and intensively aerated hybrid catfish production demonstrated consistently lower production costs and were stochastically dominant (second-order) to medium-intensity single-batch production. Multiple-batch and intensively aerated production of channel catfish were more susceptible to price (market) risk while hybrid catfish production was more susceptible to yield (production) risks. First order stochastic dominance of split-pond technology on larger farms as compared to low-intensity culture on smaller farms suggested that yield increasing intensive production practices supersede low-intensity technologies and help achieve economies of scale. Study results provide critical information on the relative risk associated with different catfish production strategies under varying economic and market conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]