January 19, 2007

 

Corn demand causes US catfish prices to rise

 

 

Soaring global demand for corn, a primary ingredient in catfish feed, would cause production costs to continue to rise, making it more difficult for producers to earn a profit.

 

According to Mississippi State University agricultural economist Terry Hanson, catfish farmers can only expect feed prices to rise for the near future.

 

Speaking to catfish farmers and researchers at the recent National Warmwater Aquaculture Center seminar, Hanson said  We are changes on the global stage affect US catfish farmers just as much as events inside the US.

 

Drought in Australia had reduced the country's wheat production and thus animal producers there are going to use corn as an alternative feed, Hanson said. 

 

Other countries using Australian wheat to feed animals are also going to do likewise, Hanson continued.

 

Ethanol production and lower production for corn last year would put further pressure on prices, he said.

 

Hanson expects US producers would be planting more corn in 2007 to take advantage of the high prices, which would remove more soybean acreage from production. Soybeans are another major ingredient in catfish feed, so catfish feed prices would rise as well, he said.

 

Hanson urged farmers to secure prices for future catfish feed to avoid paying higher prices later.

 

Lower catfish prices also may be on the horizon, Hanson said.

 

Inventories seem to be stable for the foodsize fish, as numbers of fingerlings and stockers are increasing, which meant more foodfish on the market by end of next year. This may lead to stable or lower prices, Hanson said.

 

Hanson said 4.2 million pounds of basa and tra catfish from Asia are being shipped into the US each month, a 235-percent increase from last year.

 

Catfish is the fifth most consumed US seafood in the country. About 330 million pounds of catfish are consumed annually.

 

Consumption of catfish has more than doubled in the last two decades from less than half a pound of catfish consumed per person per year in 1985 to 1.1 pounds per person in 2004, Hanson said.