Fishcat Farm

Fishcat Farm captures the waste from their catfish production raceways and composts the fish manure with oat straw to make humus compost.

Fishcat Farm produces catfish sustainably in an advanced automated raceway environment. The solid waste from the fish is captured and removed in order to maintain excellent quality of the water. Fishnure is a high quality humus compost made from the solid fish manure that has been captured from the raceways. The resulting humus compost is a soft putty-like substance. Only a small amount is needed making Fishnure™ economical to ship and use. For example, 1 pound will treat 60 sq. ft. of lawn. Humus compost is organic matter combined with clay, broken down by microbes then polymerized by microbes into humus. The clay provides the necessary structure for the polymers to form. The fish manure used in the process is the solid waste from a high protein diet excreted by fish in the raceways where the solid waste can be captured and removed quickly from the water before nutrients can leach from the waste. The clay used in the process is from the rich soil of the Mississippi river flood plain. In addition the clay comes from the bottom of discontinued catfish ponds that grew intensive populations of catfish for over 12 years. The organic wastes were not removed from the ponds and as a result beneficial nutrients accumulated in the clay in the bottom of the ponds. The carbon source used to create the proper carbon to nitrogen ratio for the compost is oat straw. The resulting Fishnure humus compost has no fishy smell and is more clay-like than that of regular compost. It consists of small moist colloidal putty-like modules that are soft and spongy. Only a small amount of these modules are needed per square yard of area. Fishnure has the smell of freshly tilled soil. Unlike regular compost the organic matter that is bound to the microscopic clay particles in humus compost will not decompose further and will remain in the soil and increase the total organic matter. Increased organic matter in the soil will increase fertility, water retention, water absorption, microbial life and all the other benefits of good fertile soil. Fishnure is an excellent product for providing nutrients for gardens, patio, lawn or vegetable plants. It is an economical alternative to chemical products that damage the environment. Humus compost provides long lasting benefits to the soil rather than the short benefits from chemical fertilizers.