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With the Asian and the Americas markets staffed and serviced, and production protocols under the aquaculture teams' purview, the focus turned to refining the feedstuffs themselves.

Nutrient-driven solutions

The formula for Cargill's success is pretty simple. Find a customer's challenge and design a solution that addresses that challenge.

With vast experience in developing and commercializing feedstocks for a wide array of diverse markets, from poultry and livestock to the companion animal markets, the aquaculture team had the luxury of a deep well of expertise from which to draw ideas and innovation.

"Transferring that equity built in other sectors to the aquaculture sector was important to us," says Daniel Barziza, technology deployment manager, Aquaculture, Cargill Animal Nutrition. "That's why completing the aqua research facility is such a crucial step in growing our business."

With the goal of bringing nutrient-driven feed solutions to the marketplace in its sights, the Aqua Vision team — a six- to 10-member team charged with identifying customers' challenges and opportunities — can now turn to a state-of-the-art R&D facility to assist in meeting that goal.

The environmentally controlled facility houses a unique array of segregated containment systems designed to facilitate a variety of trials, including feeding trials for both fresh and saltwater species under a range of conditions.

Fish are housed in 30- and 100-gallon tanks with water recirculated at a 2.5 times/hour rate — this ensures a consistent trial environment for temperature, oxygen and water quality. The building's ventilation system helps keep inside temperatures at a consistent level, critical for conducting and maintaining trial protocols with sensitive species in Minnesota's wildly variable climate.

While initial trials will focus on tilapia and hybrid striped bass, subsequent, long-term efforts will include catfish, shrimp and other saltwater species. However, using custom developed models and understanding of each species' biology, the team is able to apply research results for one species into solutions for others, too.