New to Dakotafest this year: liquid fish

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Each year, a part of the Schlaffman Farm outside of Mitchell transforms from a mostly vacant piece of land to the temporary home of vendors selling everything from farm equipment to ice cream.

But liquid fish? That’s a new one.

Standing in front of a line of sample bottles filled with brown liquid, Ron Abbott, salesman for Schafer Fisheries of Thomson, Ill., smiled Tuesday as he talked about his first trip to the Dakotafest farm-andranch trade show.

“I’m here to get the word out on the fact that there is something out there that exists for farmers who care about the soil,” Abbott said. “We want to help rebuild if he sees deadness in the soil.”

The liquid fish fertilizer is made from the otherwise unusable parts of fish like catfish, carp and oth- ers that are processed at the Illinois facility. After the fish are filleted and gutted by hand, the remaining offal is transported to a nearby facility where it is processed into the liquid fish Abbott is selling at Dakotafest. The company’s main business, according to its website, is providing “top of the line, delicious, fresh-water fish and smoked fish” to “local and coastal restaurants along with international companies.”

“With the growth of our company, we took and basically turned lemons into lemonade,” Abbott said.

The liquid fish, he said, provides nitrogen, phosphate, calcium, oil and potash — a common name for potassium carbonate and salts — for the soil, allowing producers to use less chemical treatments that can be dangerous to both crops and consumers.

Mixing the product with water and spraying it on fields can bring back microbial activity, strengthen the root zone and help bring back earthworm activity.

The company distributes the product using 10 semitrucks, including two that can haul 5,000 gallons each.

The largest consumer of the product so far has been a Canadian commercial farmer who purchased 25,000 gallons of the product.

“People are looking for alternatives that are less chemical,” said Roland Schnabel, of R and G Distributing Inc. in Emery, a company that distributes liquid fish. “The whole thing is to get the soil health back.”

Abbott came to Dakotafest with the assistance of Schnabel.

As attendees began to flock the grounds Tuesday morning, Abbott said he was excited to see what kind of results he would experience at the annual gathering, which drew approximately 530 exhibitors. Todd Benz, Dakotafest director, did not have an estimate of attendees on Tuesday, but said parking lot attendants reported vehicles were parked “the furthest out that they’ve ever gone.”

Dakotafest continues through Thursday.

Tags: liquid fish, news, local, dakotafest, agriculture