Developing Pre-Consumer Waste as Low-Cost Cricket Feed for Small Farming Operations

PROJECT SUMMARY Title: Developing Pre-Consumer Waste as Low-Cost Cricket Feed for Small Farming Operations PD: Schlafly Sarah Company: Mighty Cricket      Advisor: Morales Ramos Juan A. Institution: USDA-ARS (unfunded in phase I)    Advisor: Rojas Guadalupe M. Institution: USDA-ARS (unfunded in phase I) The goal of this project to develop a sustainable cricket feed using locally sourced pre-consumer waste streams that costs less than commercially available cricket feed.Ultimately the goal is to reduce the wholesale price of cricket powder to be price competitive with conventional proteins. Measures of this project's success include a feed conversion ratio of 1.5:1 and cost per lb of cricket feed less than $.64/lb at 3125 lb/wk production volume.To meet the cost goal this Project Director will focus on securing shelf-stable waste within a 30 mile radius of the farm.Byproducts will not be considered unless a key nutrient cannot be found in a waste stream. Reducing the price of cricket powder will have a dramatic impact on the demand for the product. Foodservice and pet food companies have already expressed interest in the product at a lower cost. As demand increases this creates revenue opportunities for urban farmers who can raise crickets on vacant lots in abandoned buildings and on rooftops.Even small rural farmers with limited arable land can benefit from this market. This furthers the program's goals to develop new smallscale agricultural enterprises focused on specialty farm products help small to mid-sized farms improve operations through resource efficiency promote conservation in farming operations explore ways to make urban farming more profitable develop procedures that would increase the establishment of new urban farms and expand the marketing of value-added products in local regional national and international markets.