The Alternative Ingredients in Finfish Aquaculture Short Course attracted participants from Guatemala, Panama, Costa Rica and the tribal college in Ft. Totten, N.D. The short course, in cooperation with the USDA-ARS North Central Agricultural Research laboratory and South Dakota State University, Brookings , was held Oct. 18 to 22 at the Northern Crops Institute (NCI).

The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) sponsored the short course, and the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council provided funding to develop the program. The Minnesota Corn Utilization Council, North Dakota Corn Council and North Dakota Soybean Council funded the tuition.

The program focused on using alternative ingredients, including DDGS and soy, in feed for warm-water and cold-water fin fish and shrimp. According to Jesse Trushenski, Southern Illinois University, aquaculture is expected to grow by 11 percent per year, significantly outpacing growth in other livestock areas.

Participants attended the first two-and-a-half days of lectures and hands-on laboratory experience at the Northern Crops Institute. The group spent the remainder of the week at South Dakota State University, and toured the Blue Dog Lake State Fish Hatchery in Waubay, S.D., SDSU Fish Research Laboratory, South Dakota Soybean Processors in Volga, S.D., Valero Renewables in Aurora, S.D., and MinAqua Fisheries in Renville, Minn.

Northern Crops Institute supports regional agriculture and value-added processing by conducting educational and technical programs that expand and maintain domestic and international markets for northern-grown crops. NCI is funded by the states of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota and commodity groups in those states and Montana.