This is the VOA SpecialEnglish AGRICULTURE REPORT.
Many farmers in the United States face financial difficulty.Prices for crops have been low for several years. Costs for energy,fuel, fertilizers and farm equipment are rising. Across the country,producers of traditional crops are looking for ways to earn a biggerprofit.
The state of Kentucky is the second leading producer of tobaccoplants in the country, after North Carolina. Each year, Kentuckyfarmers earn more than five-hundred-million dollars growing tobacco.
However, more and more tobacco growers are exploring other waysto earn money. They note rising production costs and increases inforeign tobacco imports. Also, many Americans object to smoking forhealth reasons.
Some tobacco farmers are now raising catfish. John Murdock is onesuch farmer. He says catfish farming is becoming more common andprofitable in western Kentucky. Recently, Mister Murdock and fortyother local farmers formed a group to support the development ofcatfish farming. It is called the Purchase Area AquacultureCooperative.
Jessie Lopez heads the cooperative group. He says the group’smembers wanted to develop a product that would support localgrowers. He says they also wanted to process and market the product.
For most members of the group, catfish farming is not the onlyway they earn money. Mister Murdock says western Kentucky stilldepends on the production of tobacco, grains and other crops. Headds that raising catfish is not as profitable as growing tobacco.However, he says his group will also earn money through theprocessing and marketing of the fish.
The Purchase Area Aquaculture Co-Op shows the continuing growthof catfish farming and processing in the United States. TheDepartment of Agriculture says ninety-thousand hectares of ponds arecurrently being used for catfish farming. The Department expectsAmerican farmers to add more than two-thousand hectares of new pondsfor raising catfish this year.
Agriculture officials say the United States has almostthree-hundred-fifty-million catfish ready for market. The fish areworth more than five-hundred-million dollars to catfish farmersnationwide.
This VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT was written by GeorgeGrow.