aquaponics production data: or - south centers...annualized system unit cost (total cost per unit of...

Aquaponics

Production Data:

or ?

D. Allen Pattillo

Aquaculture Extension Specialist

Iowa State University

Can I Profit From Aquaponics?

Depends on:

• Facility Costs

• System Costs

• Operational Costs

• Revenue Streams

Start-up Costs

Fixed Costs – Start-up Costs

• Aquaponics System

• Building/Greenhouse

• Land

• Lagoon

• Well

• Equipment

– Recurring Costs • Taxes & Interest

• Insurance

Variable Costs

– Operational Costs

• Feed

• Fingerlings

• Disposables

• Water tests

• Utilities

• Labor

Facility Costs

• Outside

• Warehouse

• Greenhouse

• High Tunnel

– Gov’t opportunities for partial funding

System Cost

Fish Tanks

• Fiberglass

• HDPE

• Rubber Lined

• Stock Tank

• Round

vs.Square

• Other

Solids Filter

• Drum filter

• Clarifier

• Swirl Separator

• Sand filter

• Filter pads

• Other

Biofilter

• Media bed

• Trickling

biofilter

• Fluidized bed

• Combination

media

filter/biofilter

• None

• Other

Hydroponic

Unit

• Deep water

• Media Beds

• Nutrient Film

Technique

(NFT)

• Vertical towers

• Aeroponic

• Other

Operational Costs

• Labor

• Utilities

• Fingerlings

• Feed

• Water Tests

• Freight/Shipping

• Seeds

• Germinating

materials

• Nutrient supplements

• Miscellaneous

Production Potentials

• 0.3 – 1 lb of fish per gallon of tank space

• 2-5 plants per square foot of growing area

• Each fish can support ~ 15 plants

• Co-Product Generation – Worms & worm castings

– Compost

– Crayfish & other polyculture critters

– Biofuels & Electricity

Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA)

http://suntrace.de/typo3temp/pics/fb74fc6358.jpg

a) Capital and operational

expenditures

b) Potential revenues

c) Break-even points

T.E.A. of Aquaponics

System boundary and flowchart

Water Electricity Natural Gas

Labor

Other Operational

Costs

Capital Costs (amortized)

Floating Raft Soil Pea Gravel Rockwool

Le

ttuce

Pro

duce

We

ight (g

)

0

100

200

300

400

a

b

a

a

218.3

62.5

271.1

210.1

Lettuce Basil Days to Maturation 46 78

Density (plants/m2) 26 26

Retail Price ($/kg) $10.96 $79.02

Plant Production Data

Iowa Retail Prices (2/20/2013)

Average Tilapia Production Value =

Lettuce Basil Tilapia (fillets)

Retail Price ($/kg) $10.96 $79.02 $15.36

Average Total Weight per Tank (kg) 5.95

Fillet Yield (kg) (35% dressout) 2.08

Retail Value Per Tank ($15.36/kg) $31.99

Production Value ($/m3) $202.48

Lettuce Production Value

Treatment Average Produce

Weight (g)

Plants per tray

Tray area (m2)

Biomass (kg/m2)

Retail Value ($/kg)

Production Value ($/m2)

Floating Raft

218.3 8 0.6 2.91 $10.96 $31.90

Soil 62.5 8 0.6 0.83 $10.96 $9.13 Pea Gravel 271.1 8 0.6 3.61 $10.96 $39.62 Rockwool 210.1 8 0.6 2.80 $10.96 $30.70

Supplemental Lighting

• Necessary for winter months and indoor culture

• Efficiency is critical to economic viability

• Light spectrum and photoperiod affects fruiting of plants

• Options:

– High Pressure Sodium

– Light Emitting Diodes (LED)

HPS Lighting

• High Pressure

Sodium Lamps – 400 watts

• Photoperiod

– 16L : 8 D

LED Lighting

• Light Emitting

Diodes – 1,000 watt HPS

equivalent

• Photoperiod

– 16L : 8 D

Height (mm)

LED Wet Basil LED HPS

Wet Basil Value ($/m2/yr) $745 $405

Net Benefit ($) $434.89 $47.63

NEW DATA!!

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

Wat

er C

on

sum

pti

on

(ga

l)

Summer Tomato Plant Water Consumption

Green Blue

Total Days Monitored

System

18 Green Blue

Total Water Consumption

(gal) 179.1 170.2

Average Daily Water

Consumption (gal/day)

9.95 9.45

Tomato Water Consumption

Seeds Sown Seedlings

Transplanted First Harvest Present

1/27/2015 4/5/2015 5/21/2015 7/11/2015

Day 0 Day 68 Day 114 Day 165

Tomato Production

050

100150200250300350400450500

Cumulative Tomatoes Produced

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Cumulative Tomato Biomass Produced (lbs)

Tomato Price ($/lb) $ 2.50

Total Tomato Production (lbs) 28

Tomato Condition Rating (0 to 2)

1.41

Total Production Value $ 49.52

Value per m2 (ft2) $ 0.89 ($0.08)

Value per Day $ 0.30

Tomato Production Value

Our system

29

Italian large leaf basil (Ocimum basilicum)

Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

All calculations based on operational data collected during 2012-2013


Key Assumptions for three scales

Scale ISU 10 X ISU 300 X ISU

Capacity Grow bed area(m2) 7.56 75.6 2041.20

Greenhouse Model 16’x18’ 21’x72’ 90’x96’

No. 1 1 3

Fish tank Model 50 gl 500 gl 500 gallon

No. 1 1 30

gallon gallon

Maximum fish biomass is 120 kg/m3


31

Annual Water Use Unit Water Use As the system increases in size, more

water will be consumed But, water used per unit area is constant

Annual Electricity Use Unit Electricity Use

As the system increases in size, more electricity will be consumed

But, electricity used per unit area decreases exponentially (economies of scale) Due to increased efficiencies



33

Annual Natural Gas Use Unit Natural Gas Use As the system increases in size, more gas will be consumed

But, gas used per unit area decreases exponentially (economies of scale) Due to increased efficiencies


Annualized total system cost (fish and plants)

For each scale, the annualized cost is considered including capital costs and operating costs As the system increases in size, annualized capital and operational costs increase

y = 363.16x + 15760 R² = 1

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

800,000

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500

An

nu

aliz

ed

To

tal C

ost

($

/y)

Grow Bed Area (m2)

Annualized system unit cost (total cost per unit of biomass produced)

T.E.A. of Aquaponics As size increases, annual cost per unit area decreases exponentially (economies of scale) due to increased production efficiencies

y = 220.99x-0.32 R² = 0.91 y = 370.95x

-0.32 R² = 0.91

0.00

50.00

100.00

150.00

200.00

250.00

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500

An

nu

al U

nit

Co

st (

$/k

g b

iom

ass/

y)

Grow Bed Area (m2)

Tilapia

Basil“Economies of Scale”

Annual cost per unit of basil produced

Annual cost per unit of tilapia produced

-500,000

-300,000

-100,000

100,000

300,000

500,000

700,000

900,000

1,100,000

1,300,000

1,500,000

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500

An

nu

al P

rofi

t ($

/y)

Grow Bed Area (m2)

$100/kg

$80/kg

$60/kg

$40/kg

$20/kg

$15/kg

$10/kg

Annual system profits with various basil prices (for a constant tilapia sales price of $9 /kg)


-30,000

-20,000

-10,000

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

An

nu

al P

rofi

t ($

/y)

Grow Bed Area (m2)

$100/kg

$80/kg

$60/kg

$40/kg

$20/kg

$15/kg

$10/kg


Annual system profits with various basil prices (for a constant tilapia sales price of $9 /kg)


Unit profits with various basil prices (for a constant tilapia sales price of $9 /kg)

Our work is also consistent with the investigation conducted by Love et al. (2015) which showed that only 31% of operators made profits during the year between 2012 and 2013

-250.00

-200.00

-150.00

-100.00

-50.00

0.00

50.00

100.00

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500

An

nu

al U

nit

Pro

fit

($/k

g b

asil/

y)

Grow Bed Area (m2)

$100/kg $80/kg

$60/kg $40/kg

$20/kg $15/kg

$10/kg


Unit profits with various basil prices (for a constant tilapia sales price of $9 /kg)

Our work is also consistent with the investigation conducted by Love et al., which shows that only 31% of operators made profits during the year between 2012 and 2013

-250.00

-200.00

-150.00

-100.00

-50.00

0.00

50.00

0 20 40 60 80

An

nu

al U

nit

Pro

fit

($/k

g b

asil/

y)

Grow Bed Area (m2)

$100/kg $80/kg

$60/kg $40/kg

$20/kg $15/kg

$10/kg

Discussion

•Both the total annual profit and profit per unit are influenced

strongly by the price of basil

•When basil price is lower or equal to $20/kg ($9/lb), none of the

three scales can make profit

•When basil price is $40/kg ($18/lb), only the 300 times of

baseline can make profit

•When basil price is greater or equal to $60/kg ($27/lb), both 10

times baseline and 300 times baseline can make profit

Conclusions

• The annual unit cost of basil/tilapia aquaponics decreases as the operational scale expands (economies of scale)

• When the scale is large enough, such as with the grow bed area of 75.6 m2 (813.8 ft3), and when the basil price equals to or is greater than $60/kg ($27/lb), this type of aquaponics system is profitable

27 in (69 cm)

Dia.

35 Gal. 133 L

~200 Gal. ~760 L

(2.43 m)

(1.22 m)

3

2

6

5 4 1

3

2 5 4

6

Barramundi

(Lates calcarifer)

◄ Italian Largeleaf Basil

◄Buttercrunch Bibb Lettuce

►

Baseline system: 6 growbeds, each 4’x8’, 16’ x 18’ glass greenhouse

Baseline system: 6 growbeds, each 4’x8’, 16’ x 18’ glass greenhouse

10 15 20 40 60 80 100

17.5 $14,731.01 -$87.69 -$82.69 -$77.69 -$57.69 -$37.69 -$17.69 $2.31

Grow beds area (m2)Annualized Total Cost

($/yr)

System Unit Profit Using Various Basil Price ($/kg basil/yr)

10 15 20 40 60 80 100

17.5 $14,731.01 -$87.69 -$82.69 -$77.69 -$57.69 -$37.69 -$17.69 $2.31


($/yr)


10 15 20 40 60 80 100

17.5 $14,731.01 -$87.69 -$82.69 -$77.69 -$57.69 -$37.69 -$17.69 $2.31


($/yr)


10 15 20 40 60 80 100

17.5 $14,731.01 -$87.69 -$82.69 -$77.69 -$57.69 -$37.69 -$17.69 $2.31


($/yr)


Breakeven Point ($/kg basil)

$97.69

Breakeven Point ($/oz basil)

$2.77

Opportunities!!

Retail Wholesale Supermarket Roadside Stand Fresh

Produce Type Unit Price Per Unit Cucumber each $ 0.77 $ 0.50 $ 0.15 Squash lb $ 1.48 $ 0.34 Squash each $ 0.50 $ 0.34 Bell Peppers each $ 1.43 $ 0.50 $ 0.38 Tomato, Cherry lb $ 3.66 $ 0.37 Tomato ,Medium lb $ 2.50 $ 0.37 Tomato, Large lb $ 3.00 $ 0.37 Strawberry lb $ 3.99 $ 2.65 $ 1.93 Herbs lb $ 47.84 $ 12.50 $ 5.00 Lettuce each $ 2.50 $ 2.00 $ 1.50

Produce Prices

http://www.nass.usda.gov/Quick_Stats/Ag_Overview/stateOverview.php?state=OHIO

Commodity Planted All

Purpose Acres

Harvested Acres

Yield (CWT/ACRE)

Production (CWT)

Price per CWT

Value of Production

Bell Peppers 2,800 2,600 175 455,000 $ 38 $ 17,290,000

Cucumbers 7,500 6,500 126 819,000 $ 15 $ 12,285,000

Squash 1,800 1,600 190 304,000 $ 34 $ 10,336,000

Cabbage 1,500 1,400 350 490,000 $ 13 $ 6,370,000

Potatoes 1,600 1,500 280 420,000 $ 13 $ 5,460,000

Strawberries 620 480 38 18,000 $ 193 $ 3,474,000

Grapes, Processed -- 1,600 47.6 69,000 $ 25.15 $ 1,736,000

Grapes, Fresh Market -- 1,600 47.6 2,200 $ 50 $ 110,000

Tomatoes, Processing -- -- -- -- $ 5.55 --

Tomatoes, Fresh Market -- -- -- -- $ 36.60 --

http://www.nass.usda.gov/Quick_Stats/Ag_Overview/stateOverview.php?state=OHIO

Questions?

D. Allen Pattillo

Fisheries and Aquaculture Extension

Iowa State University

• [email protected]

• 515-294-8616

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


• (1) Based on our operation, the weekly water loss is 10%

• (2) The effective volume of each fish tank is 84%, and the

maximum fish biomass is 120 kg/m3

• (3) The survival rate of fish from fingerlings to harvest is

90%, and the harvest cycle is 6 months



• (4) There are 16 basils in one tray and there are 12 trays

in total for the baseline. 25% of the basil will be ready for

harvest each week

• (5) Both fish and basil yield in the two larger scales are

10 times and 300 times of the baseline, respectively

• (6) The average wet weight of basil is 27 g/plant, and the

basil price was $10, $15, $20, $40, $60, $80, and

$100/kg



• (7) The average harvest weight of tilapia is 0.68 kg (1.5 lb)

per fish, and fresh tilapia price is $ 9.00/kg (FishChoice, 2014)

• (8) The fish feed conversion rate is 1.6

• (9) According to Ames municipal utilities, the winter rate for

water and electricity starts from Nov.1 and lasts till Jun 30,

and the summer starts from Jul 1 and lasts till Oct 30.The

average electricity price is $0.10/ kWh; and the average

water price is $0.02/ft3



• (10) The operating time of fans, water pumps, air pumps,

UV clarifiers is 24 h/d, and 365 d/y

• (11) The operating time for light supplementation is 4 h/d,

and 22 weeks in fall/winter/spring



• (12) The operating time of the heater is 24 h/d, and 198

d/y

• (13) The required labor is 52 week/y for all three scales,

and 10 h/week, 20 h/week, and 120 h/week for the

baseline, 10 times of baseline, and 300 times of

baseline, respectively

• (14) The hourly labor payment is $12/h



• (15) The yearly interest rate is 5.5%, insurance rate is

0.462% and tax rate is 0.35%

• (16) The yearly maintenance cost is 1% of total capital

cost

• (17) Since the greenhouse had free shipping, the freight

is 1% of the costs of all other initial equipment



• (18) Both the types and numbers of the equipment vary

according to different scale sizes

• (19) For the 10 times of baseline and 300 times of

baseline, the proportions of wood are less because 500

gallon tanks are supposed to set on the ground

• (20) Due to large amount of purchase, most prices of the

items in the 10 times of baseline are 90% of that in

Baseline; and 80% for the 300 times of baseline



• (21) No extra fertilizer is used

• (22) The salvage value at the end of service life is

assumed to be $0

• (23) equipment service life of 10 years


aquaponics production data: or - south centers...annualized system unit cost (total cost per unit of...

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