U.S. farm-raised catfish acreage decreased by 3% from 24,785 ha in 2020 to 24,000 ha in 2021. The 2021 acreage (and percent change from 2020) for Mississippi was 14,045 ha (-2%), Alabama was 6,313 ha (-2%), and Arkansas was 1,457 ha (-10%). These three states production area are 91% of the industry total. The primary factors associated with this decrease were Covid-19 uncertainty, higher feed prices, improved production efficiencies, and other higher land use enterprises (soybean, corn).
Through September 2021, catfish round weight processing (102,511 MT) was 5 percent less than the January through September 2020 period (107,500 MT). Foodsize catfish feed (32% crude protein) delivered for the first 9 months of 2021 was 12% higher than for the same period in 2020. Catfish feed prices increased sharply in August 2020 through May 2021 by 38% due to soybean and corn production issues and resulting shortage of these two primary catfish feed commodities. By September 2021, feed prices had dropped from the May 2021 high by 8%, but still much higher than over the past 5 years. The trend in feed price is downward. Fingerling and broodstock feed delivered was 14% lower in 2021 than in 2020.
High feed costs were concerning but higher prices paid to producers for their live fish helped mitigate this rise. Through September 2021, the price paid for premium (0.45 – 1.81 kg) sized catfish was $0.24 to $0.35 per kg higher than for this same period in 2020. The trend is price paid to producers for live fish is upward. Interestingly, the price paid for very large (2.7 – 3.6 kg) sized catfish has become equal to the prices paid for small (< 0.45 kg), premium, and large (1.8 – 2.7 kg) size catfish. In 2020, this was not the case with lower prices for large sized fish. This is an indication of the scarcity of available catfish from producers and the lack of labor in processing plants, each causing less fish going out to the marketplace.
During the first 8 months of 2021, the U.S. imported 11,793 MT of Siluriformes products, a 21% increase over the same period in 2020. Fresh product exports are lower, while frozen product exports are higher over this first 8 months of 2020 and 2021.