Pottawatomie County is home to aquaponics farm By Donna Sullivan, Editor Once the fry are hatched, What began as an effort Sperman uses a net to scoop to ensure his diabetic father a them into a bucket to trans- reliable protein supply if port to fry pools. The bread availability to his medication and butter of his business is were interrupted has grown selling three-quarter to one- into a growing business ven- inch fry in bulk. “When fry ture for Pottawatomie Coun- are the size of mosquito lar- ty resident James Sperman. vae, they’re not the most re- Travelers along Highway 24 silient things in the world,” between Manhattan and he said. So he waits about Wamego may have noticed two weeks for them to grow the high tunnel, semi-pit to around an inch, then ships greenhouse and large blue them nationwide. “None of pools that house his my fish go to waste,” he con- aquaponic gardening system tinued. “The ones that I and tilapia farm. don’t manage to find homes Aquaponics combines for can grow and become fish farming with hydropon- adolescents and some are ic gardening inside a high just on the verge of becom- tunnel, which allows for the ing breeders and will be- production of fruits, vegeta- come pond stockers.” bles and fish year-round. The Sperman says that be- system has a 1,700-gallon cause tilapia are predomi- fish tank and 165-square- nantly vegetarian and are fil- foot grow bed. Water from ter feeders, the algae and the fish tank carries fish bacteria that grows in the waste to the grow bed, where James Sperman describes how he feeds the fish at only one end of the pond since the females release their eggs pools is tailored perfectly to it feeds the plants. Sper- on the other end. The blue pools in the background house the fish as they grow, and also visible is the plantation their needs. The algae man’s high tunnel even in- that includes banana and fig trees. thrives on well water be- cludes banana and fig trees. cause it contains a good “Bananas are a common de- and receives about 13.5 amount of nitrates and ni- nominator for people,” Sper- cents each. He’s scaled up trites. The fry give off am- man described. “When they and expanded to also selling monia, which also breaks see bananas growing in adolescents and older fish down into the nitrates and ni- Kansas, they can’t help but for pond stocking. trites. “So the fish them- smile and their eyes twin- Sperman now has 220 selves are spurring on the kle.” breeding adults that share 75 growth of their own food,” Constructing the semi-pit nests. “By share, I mean the he said. The only filtering he greenhouse was no easy ven- biggest males take them,” he does is using a sump pump ture, as he dug out the said. He only feeds the fish to pump the bottom third of 55’x14’x7.5’ pit, as well as on one end of the pond, be- the water out of the large the fishpond, by hand, haul- cause the mothers release pools into a nearby orchard ing the dirt away in a wheel- their young at the other end. and garden. barrow. He builds a frame “In their minds I want to es- As Sperman looks to the over the pond in the winter tablish that this is the end future of his business, he and covers it with green- where you eat, so they don’t hopes to lease some nearby house plastic. The water in ever eat anything of any kind land in the next year or so to both the pond and the green- at the other end,” he ex- expand his operation. “I’m houses helps to keep the plained. really good at producing a temperatures above freezing. Tilapia are cichlids, lot of fish in a small area, so After the first year of meaning mouth breeders. I’ve been able to satisfy my tilapia production, Sperman The males excavate a nest on demand here with what I was approached by a grower the bottom and attract a fe- have. But I need to expand,” in Missouri who wanted him male. The female will come he stated. He would like to to mass-produce the tilapia in and lay about a dozen Pools inside the high tunnel help keep temperatures up in the winter for the banana custom-design full sized fry(newly hatched fish) and eggs. When the male fertil- and fig trees and are also home to growing tilapia. Photos by Donna Sullivan high tunnels to accommo- sell them to him wholesale. izes them, she will scoop date different environments That first year he sold them back into her mouth, sand or more fertilized eggs, they’ve hatched, she’ll hold spit them out. She’ll guard for everything he would like 50,000 fry at twenty cents then lay some more. Accord- then she’ll hold them in her them in her mouth as long as them for a couple of days, to grow. He also hopes to set apiece. He now produces ing to Sperman, they will mouth for about two weeks she can to give them the best and suck them back into her 60,000 to 80,000 per month continue until she has a thou- until they hatch. Even after chance of survival, then will mouth if she senses danger. Continued on page 3 Scientists complete chromosome-based draft of wheat genome Several Kansas State hexaploid bread wheat for identifying those genes provides a foundation for the wheat chromosomes. University researchers were genome is one of four papers that control complex traits, studying genetic variation Other Kansas State Uni- essential in helping scien- about the wheat genome that such as yield, grain quality, and understanding how versity researchers in the de- tists assemble a draft of a ge- appear in the journal Sci- disease, pest resistance and changes in the genetic code partment of plant pathology netic blueprint of bread ence. abiotic stress tolerance. can impact important agro- involved include Bik-ram wheat, also known as com- The genetic blueprint is They will be able to produce nomic traits. In our lab we Gill, university distin- mon wheat. The food plant an invaluable resource to a new generation of wheat use this sequence to create a guished professor and direc- is grown on more than 531 plant science researchers varieties with higher yields catalog of single base tor of the Wheat Genetics million acres around the and breeders, said Eduard and improved sustainability changes in DNA sequence Resource Center, and Bernd world and produces nearly Akhunov, associate profes- to meet the demands of a of a worldwide sample of Friebe, research professor, 700 million tons of food sor of plant pathology and a growing world population in wheat lines to get insights who developed genetic ma- each year. collaborator with the Inter- a changing environment.” into the evolution and origin terial that was essential for The International Wheat national Wheat Genome Se- Although a draft, the se- of wheat genetic diversity.” obtaining the chromosome- Genome Sequencing Con- quencing Consortium. quence provides new insight Akhunov, Shichen Wang, based sequence of the wheat sortium, which also includes “For the first time, they into the plant’s structure, or- a programmer and bioinfor- genome. faculty at Kansas State Uni- have at their disposal a set of ganization, evolution and matics scientist in plant A second paper in Sci- versity, recently published a tools enabling them to rapid- genetic complexity. pathology, and Jesse Poland, ence details the first refer- chromosome-based draft se- ly locate specific genes on “This is a very significant assistant professor of plant ence sequence of chromo- quence of wheat’s genetic individual wheat chromo- advancement for wheat ge- pathology, collaborated with some 3B, the largest chro- code, which is called a somes throughout the netics and breeding commu- the International Wheat mosome in common wheat. genome. A chromosome- genome,” Akhunov said. nity,” Akhunov said. “The Genome Sequencing Con- Continued on page 3 based draft sequence of the “This resource is invaluable wheat genome sequence sortium to order genes along Page 2 Grass & Grain, July 29, 2014 cluding moisture, nutri- gathering data rocketed equipment provided by more profitable farmers. ents, pests, etc., may be- forward as computer tech- John Deere on their family Before, we always looked at come commonplace during nology fueled the concept farm. Nick Guetterman be- this data and analyzed it the big ag-data era. of precision agriculture. lieves the more information after the fact.” No matter what beati- This only intensified with he has at his disposal, the But who gets that infor- tudes are bestowed on big the application and inter- more likely he is to figure a mation — the farmer or the data, most believe and hope est driven by the ever-grow- better way to do things. provider? Will they be pre- By John Schlageck, Who controls it and how it will improve farmers’ ing data infrastructure. What he’s most interest- scribing what best suits Kansas Farm Bureau will it be used? yields and productivity. Greater affordability of this ed in during this initial their interests or those of Some believe “big data” And if you don’t know Some say it will help feed technology coupled with phase of using these new the farmer? may be the next renais- what big data is join the the growing population, ex- more computer processing data collecting tools is to Guetterman believes be- sance in agriculture.