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Different kind of farming: Greene Co. gets innovation grant for prawn processing facility
(The Free Press (Kinston, NC)(KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) May 17--SNOW HILL -- When thinking of prawn farming, Greene County may not be the first place that jumps to mind.
Still, the county will soon become home to the lone prawn processing plant in the country, according to Stan Dixon, extension director for Greene County.
"There's nowhere else that does this," he said.
To make that a reality, the county applied for and received a $300,000 innovation grant from the North Carolina Rural Center.
"The focus is to develop a prawn processing facility in Greene County near Castoria," Dixon said. "And what they're going to be doing is putting in an individual quick freeze freezer, which is a machine where you can freeze them fast so they can be packaged and shipped anywhere in the world."
NCSU Extension Service Aquaculture Area Agent Mike Frinsko explained the basics about the technique, also known as IQF.
"The idea of IQF is it provides a very, very fast, very cold freezing of the product, which produces a very small ice crystal," he said. "The smaller the ice crystal formation in the meat, the less internal damage is caused to the texture or the integrity of the meat."
The grant will also aid in the creation of about 25 seasonal jobs and two full-time positions, according to Dixon.
The plant's Greene County location makes sense when considering where prawn growers in the state are situated, including Vanceboro, Chapel Hill and Greene County, Dixon said.
"We're the central location," he said. "That's why it's going to be here in Greene County."
Once the plant is up and running, it will allow for uniformity in the way the prawns are harvested and frozen, since there will be a crew for each part of the work, Dixon said.
Frinsko said area prawn farmers thought that uniformity was very important.
"Most recently, as the industry has grown, there's been a need to enhance their capabilities in providing a professional, processed and packaged product," he said. "The growers collectively thought it would be a great capability to freeze the product in a uniform manner."
Frinsko said Greene County is a great place for prawn farming for several reasons, including good soil, good water and access to transportation.
"It's an area that is historically involved in agriculture, so we have really good people in Greene County that are excellent farmers who understand what it takes to get the job done and are willing to work hard to make it happen," he said. "Greene County is an excellent place to do this."
And a profitable place to do it too, according to Frinsko.
Though Greene County only has one prawn grower as of yet, it is still a profitable industry, he said.
On average, Frinkso said, farmers raise about 900 pounds of the seasonal crop per acre at a selling price of $8 per pound. Even with a production cost of $3.50 per pound, the profit is about $4.50.
Still, Frinkso said an important thing to understand is the industry is market-driven.
"The success of the prawn industry in North Carolina is squarely due to the marketing effort of the farmers," he said. "This is the most crucial point to understand: It's not a matter of production; it's a matter of marketing."
This has led to the creation of a cooperative of state prawn farmers, the American Prawn Cooperative.
"Working collaboratively allows them to benefit in other areas, like bulk purchasing of feed and equipment, as well as having opportunities as we've seen with this grant that individual farmers would never have the capability of being a part of.
"So there is strength in numbers."
The grant itself was a collaborative procedure itself.
The grant-writing process required the concerted effort of several people working against a tight deadline.
"I probably spent about 120 hours (on the grant)," Frinsko said. "Natalie (Relyea, Greene County's lone prawn farmer) spent probably a solid week working on it. Together with Stan (Dixon) and some other people with NCSU we were able to have it compiled and edited in time for submission right at the due date."
Dixon said he hopes to have the facility up and running in time for the October harvest. For now, they are taking bids from contractors. They should break ground on the facility in 3-4 weeks.
"The building has to be built to the specifications of the machine," he said. "Once we get that, it shouldn't take long."
Vanessa Clarke can be reached at (252) 559-1076 or vclarke@freedomenc.com. Check out Vanessa's blog at http://vclarke.encblogs.com.
Aquaculture Area Agent Mike Frinkso said he would be glad to help any farmer interested in diversifying into freshwater prawn. "I'd be happy to discuss their options and would certainly encourage them to visit with our producers during the summer and get a firsthand view of how it is we do this." Interested farmers should call Frinkso at (252) 531-0056.
To see more of The Free Press or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.kinston.com/.
Copyright (c) 2008, The Free Press, Kinston, N.C.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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