Ken Web: Modern Aquaponics

Elevator pitch:

Developing the next generation of farming technologies is what will determine if our way of life will be able to continue in light of the exploding population of our planet.

Abstract

Farming is the single most essential occupation on our planet and yet it is one which many of us give very little thought or appreciation. Fewer than 2% of the population of the United States works on a farm but farming in the US generates huge surpluses of food that supply our own needs and are shipped around the world. Despite the enormous productivity of America’s farms, there are serious problems that we need to address as agriculture needs to accommodate an exploding population. Most important among these are issues of sustainability, profitability, and production of healthy, nutritious crops. In this talk, I will discuss the Farmory and how we are working to both improve the availability of sustainable, nutritious food to the residents of Brown County and to provide grass-roots support for an aquaponics industry in the region.

Bio

Ken Webb is a Research Associate at the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay. He is a Nutritional Physiologist that works primarily with aquaculture and the development of feeding in larval fish. Ken recently relocated to Green Bay from Corpus Christi, TX in order to work with the Farmory to build a state of the art fish hatchery to produce biosecure yellow perch fingerlings. This hatchery will serve the needs of the Farmory’s aquaponics systems as well as provide fingerlings to area culturists who are currently unable to produce yellow perch due to a lack of fingerling supply. When he isn’t working with his fish, Ken likes to go on hikes with his wife and his Newfoundland, Odin.