A small catfish farm grows fish in ponds and sells most of them live: by the pound to fee-fishing lakes and as fingerlings for stocking farm ponds. Feed is most of a pound's cost, and aeration power is the cost that keeps fish alive on a hot night. Selling fillets earns the most per pound, but catfish processing is under USDA inspection, so fillets come from an inspected plant. The plan turns on feed, power and how the fish are sold. In the example, a Mississippi catfish farm starts with $65,500, ends its first year about $1,100 behind before the owner's pay while sales build, and makes about $1,800 a month at full speed. Below is each part of the plan, the first year month by month, the startup budget, and a free template.
The short version
- Describe the farm in a paragraph: the ponds, the fish, who buys, the goals.
- Cost each pound: feed, fingerlings, hauling, processing.
- Plan sales by product: live fish, stocking fingerlings, fillets.
- Catfish processing is under USDA inspection; fillets come from an inspected plant.
- Aeration power is a fixed cost that can't be skipped.
- Feed is the biggest cost: watch its price.
- TaroStack keeps each harvest as a lot, and each order's lots on record. More below.
Part 1: the business description
Yazoo Bend Catfish, a made-up catfish farm in Belzoni, Mississippi, writes:
Yazoo Bend Catfish raises channel catfish in 20 acres of ponds near Belzoni, selling live fish to fee-fishing lakes across the Delta, fingerlings to landowners stocking ponds, and fillets processed at an inspected plant to two restaurants and a Saturday market. In its first full year it aims to sell about $12,850 a month.
Part 2: what a pound costs
| Product | Feed | Fingerlings | Hauling or processing | Card fee | Cost | Price | Cost share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live catfish, per lb, to fee lakes | $0.85 | $0.25 | $0.20 | $1.30 | $2.20 | 59.1% | |
| Stocking fingerlings, per 100 | $8.00 | $5.00 | $2.00 | $15.00 | $45.00 | 33.3% | |
| Fillets, per lb, from an inspected plant | $2.55 | $0.75 | $1.93 | $0.27 | $5.50 | $9.00 | 61.1% |
A pound of fillets takes about three pounds of live fish, which is why its feed and fingerling share is higher. What a seafood plan looks like at the processor is in seafood haccp plan.
Part 3: the ponds, the buyers and the rules
Fish are seined and hauled live in a tank truck to fee lakes on a weekly route from spring to fall. Fingerlings sell in spring and fall, when landowners stock ponds. Since 2016, catfish processing has been under USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, so the fillets are cut at an inspected plant and come back labeled; where they were raised goes on the label too, in country of origin labeling requirements.
Part 4: what each product earns
| Product | Price | Variable cost | Contribution | Margin | Units a month at full speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live catfish, per lb, to fee lakes | $2.20 | $1.30 | $0.90 | 40.9% | 4,000 |
| Stocking fingerlings, per 100 | $45.00 | $15.00 | $30.00 | 66.7% | 30 |
| Fillets, per lb | $9.00 | $5.50 | $3.50 | 38.9% | 300 |
At full speed the business sells $12,850 a month and keeps $5,550, 43.2%; live fish bring $3,600 of it.
Part 5: the first year, month by month
Fixed costs are $3,700 every month: wages for a helper ($1,500), aeration power ($900), pond lease ($600), truck fuel and upkeep ($300), insurance ($200), and other costs ($200). Sales start at 10% of full speed:
| Month | Sales | Profit | Cash, year to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,285 | −$3,145 | −$3,145 |
| 2 | $1,285 | −$3,145 | −$6,290 |
| 3 | $2,570 | −$2,590 | −$8,880 |
| 4 | $3,855 | −$2,035 | −$10,915 |
| 5 | $6,425 | −$925 | −$11,840 |
| 6 | $8,995 | $185 | −$11,655 |
| 7 | $11,565 | $1,295 | −$10,360 |
| 8 | $12,850 | $1,850 | −$8,510 |
| 9 | $12,850 | $1,850 | −$6,660 |
| 10 | $12,850 | $1,850 | −$4,810 |
| 11 | $12,850 | $1,850 | −$2,960 |
| 12 | $12,850 | $1,850 | −$1,110 |
The year's sales are $100,230, and the business ends it $1,110 behind, before the owner's pay. It breaks even at about $8,570 of sales a month, in the sixth month. The lowest cash point, −$11,840 in month 5, is covered by the $14,000 of working cash with about $2,200 to spare. Fish take time to reach size, so sales start low; once the ponds are in rotation, live sales run spring to fall and the plan averages them across the year.
Part 6: the startup budget
| Item | Example |
|---|---|
| Aerators and a backup generator | $15,000 |
| Used hauling tank truck | $12,000 |
| Pond repairs | $10,000 |
| Fingerlings and first feed | $8,000 |
| Seines, tanks and scales | $6,000 |
| Licenses | $500 |
| Working cash | $14,000 |
| Total to start | $65,500 |
The $51,500 before working cash is earned back in about two and a half years at full speed. Another farm that sells live and processed product is in chicken business plan, and a pond crop in aquaponics business plan.
Get the template
Download the catfish farm business plan workbook. Four sheets: your products, each with its price, variable cost and units a month at full speed; the first year, month by month, with sales ramping up, profit, cash, the first profitable month, the lowest cash point and whether the working cash covers it; your fixed costs; and the startup budget. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The plan uses one feed price and one survival rate. A hot night with an aerator down, feed that jumps in price, and fee lakes that buy less in a wet spring change the year.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each harvest as a lot, counted where it's stored, and each order's lots on record.
Each harvest a lot. Each day's picking of catfish goes in as a lot with its date, so every pound on an order leads back to the field and the day.
Orders by customer. Market, restaurant and grocer orders are sales orders, with a picking list and the lots each one took.
Counts with no signal. The freezer can be counted on a phone with no signal, and the oldest lots go out first by default.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| What's in the freezer | Counted when it's low | Stock by lot and date |
| Which customers got a harvest | Invoices | One recall report |
| What goes out first | Whatever's in front | First-expired-first-out |
Lots, sales orders and counts are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.