Hello Kitty

On Wednesday we left for the U.S. Trout Farmers convention in Twin Falls, Idaho. I was very excited that I was afforded the chance to attend. I was unsure of what to expect of the whole thing, as I have only been in the industry since May and am still learning a lot, every day. When we arrived in Twin falls we met up with Wally, who showed us around the farm and filled us in on what was happening and what was to come. We toured around the farm and saw the spawn/incubation/storage room and watched as the workers prepared to pour the rest of the concrete to finish the first set of raceways. We then went back to the hotel and checked into our rooms as well as help set up our booth for the trade show. On Thursday we ate breakfast at the hotel and prepared for the trade show/conference. The first part of the conference was on nutrition and diets, as well as some economics. The second half of the conference was on trout selection for utilizing plant proteins and supply and demand for trout and economical tools for survival in the industry. The speaker was very knowledgeable in business management and creating business plans for companies such as, Troutlodge, as well as, smaller companies in the agriculture industry. She informed us of a website called AgPlan that aides in helping create a business model for having a successful business in a devastated economy. On Friday we started the day with talks about the health aspect of seafood and trout as well as talks about vaccinations to help control diseases such as cold water disease, and strawberry disease. The talks were very informative on what to look for in diagnosis of these diseases. The second half of the day was spent talking about aquaponics, permit renewals, and what the EPA is trying to do to help the industry, as well as talks on accident prevention, a performance review of a new rainbow trout line that has been selected for improved resistance to cold water disease (CWD), and a overview of a trip to South Africa and how they were able to help the industry there. On our lunch break we went to Shoshone Falls, which was a spectacular site. The falls are 1000 feet wide and 212 feet tall which is 45 feet higher than Niagara Falls. Shoshone Falls was given the name "Niagara of the west". It surely is a sight to be seen! On the last day of our trip we toured several local farms. We started off at Clear Springs in Buhl. When we arrived we went out to their ponds. They had several morts in each pond and a few sideways swimmers, their screens looked like hadn't been scraped recently, and they didn't seem to have any disinfectant around. We then went to their lab which looked quite like what we have. We went out and looked at their sturgeon, and we noticed that had a couple rainbow trout in the pond with them. We only had to step into one footbath throughout the whole tour, but overall it was a nice looking place. After we left the Clear Springs facility we went to Leo Ray's