I may have missed it if someone else had a post like this already this year but, I was wondering what others were paying for Aquamax this year. I paid like $32 for 50 lbs of 5D06/600 last year and it is up to $35 this year. Still cheap to me when I figure my daily cost, but I was wondering what other were paying this season.

Joe,

I paid $26.00 for the last bag I bought last winter of 5D05. I was a little unhappy it was already 2 months old though.

Fuel prices are probably what is increasing the price more than anything.

Thanks Cecil, I thought I remember others had paid less, I have to look for a bigger source than the local co-op, they must not handle much fish food.

I need to order some and I'm dreading it.

Nobody around here stocks anything but 32%.

I pay 34.00 per bag for AM carnivore. Raw product prices are driving the price up. Fish meal is a big factor in pricing of the higher protein foods.

Can't get it, so no idea.

AM 600 was 36.99 last week at Souther Ag. Largemouth was 30.99. Pretty expensive I thought. I'll be looking for another source.

AM 600 - 32

AM LMB - 28

as of 3-1-11

Just picked up a bag of Am 500 this morning. $34 and some change.

Cecil, you're a lucky man being so close to the plant the Aquamax is made at....I pay $24 for 5D09 (Dense 4000), $29 for Aquamax 5D04 (400), and $38 for 5D00 and 5D01 (Fry powder and Fry crumble respectively).

500 and 600 are 34.00 here and largemouth is 27.00

Yesterday, I just paid $167 (after tax) for:
2-AM500
2-AM600
1-AM Largemouth

I'm picking up 10 bags of AM500 and 10 bags of AM600 today for $33 a bag.

I feel lucky looking at the prices you guys are paying. I buy from 2 places on island. Aquamax 2000 is $28 and $32.00. I'm sure shipping it in is not cheap!

RoadWar - I think the AM 2000 for Omnivore fish and is same as Gamefish Chow, both 32% protein although AM2000 (5D07) is one size pellet whereas Gamefish Chow is two sizes of pellets in one bag.
Here is a link to Purina's fish foods:
http://www.aquamax.purinamills.com/aquamaxfishdiets.htm

I'm going to get a bag of 5D06 any day now and will pass it on.

funny, down here GFC is 25 AM 500 is 40-45 i think

Paid $30.00 for a bag of Aquamax 5D06 just now. (600).

I ordered some 5DO3 and it's about $46.00 if I remember right.

Not sure what catfish growers in the south are using for feed but the feed is getting so high and competition so great from foreign markets some are closing their doors. The ones that are staying in business have to raise the price of their fillets, which is turning off their retail outlets such as restaurants.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10...NDExNDQyWj.html

Picking up 2 bags of AM600 tomorrow. Will pass along what I pay.

$33 out the door here in KC area. Price the same for 500 and 600.

AM500 $37.00 picked up today

$38 per bag in Elkhart IN.

Scott, let me know what your price is. Looks like I will need a new supplier.

Yes, it shouldn't be that much especially since we have a mill right here in Indiana. Sounds like my local Ace (China) hardware that has an unGodly markup.

AM500 $31.50

Stopping on the way home. AM600 is 31.75 and GFC is 21.00.

Mike, I'll call Bar MM Feed in Culver tomorrow.

Update:

Bar MM Feed doesn't have AM600 right now, it'll be Tuesday until they get their next shipment. They do have 400 and 500. Pricing is the same as last year. $29.60/bag of 500 (plus sales tax if applicable).

GFC - $19.75
AM 500 - $33
AM 600 - $33

AM 500 $37

$37 without tax

I'm gonna have to move! $48.75, plus tax, for 50 lbs., of AM 400 here! Actually, I'm going back to Li'l Strike and Big Strike just because of the cost difference.

How does Lil Strike and Big Strike compare as far as protein and price?

Where could I get some of it?

You dont want the big strike 32% protein too big a pellet. I sell as one of our options little stike for $19 and pay $16 for it. 36% protein and 6% fat 1/8" pellet 40 lb bag. No where near as good as Aquamax 500 but then again much cheaper. Hope that helps.

So it is around the same as GFC then?

I plan to start feeding AM 500 when they can order some for me and get it in.

Thanks

In WI it takes 2 weeks to get - why so dang long? Still waiting on the price.

Yes I think little strike is similiar in content to GFC but not the various sizes of GFC.

Timing really depends on what feed store is ordering they are not going to get you a few bags of food. They get it with other orders so it might take a few weeks to have enough other stuff for them to order. There are times also where the supply is limited as well.

Here are the tags from bags of Aquamax 500, Lil' Strike, and Big Strike.

For me, Aquamax 500 -- approx $50/50 lbs, or $1 per pound. (Edit: In fairness, if we use an average AQ-500 price of $35/50 lbs, that is about $0.70 per pound)
Lil' Strike -- Approx $20/40 lbs., or $0.50 per pound.
Big Strike -- Approx $17/40 lbs., or $0.43 per pound.

Aquamax 500





Lil' Strike


Big Strike

It'd be interesting to see just what "Animal Protein Products" are...........

It is the the stuff that is even too disgusting to put into hot dogs!

And Catmandoo chowder!!

Scott -- that may have to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis!

Things like venison nose and redhorse suckerheads probably aren't USDA approved either, but . . .

That is some good eatn'

The redhorse suckerhead soup, especially when prepared with wild rice, is not quite as thick as a chowder, but it is a great soup/stew based dish.

As a kid, I ate a lot of mojakka/kalamojakka that was made from the skeletons and remains of fish that had already been pretty well picked over.

Today, in the US, only a few of us crazies still eat this stuff -- but it sure is a lot more appetizing to me than Aquamax or Big Strike.

Found a new local feed mill that will get AM 500 for about $34 compared to the $38 I was paying at another feed store. Even better when I walked in and stood at the counter guess what pond management magazine was lying there among the farm publications for the customers to see?

I do contract work at Omega Protein, a very large provider of fish meal and can tell you this, the price of fish meal has gone up considerably in the last two years.
The boats and planes that go out for the Pogie fish have had their fuel bills triple, just like everyone else.
So far, this looks like a pretty good year for fishing as the boats are coming in full, verses several years ago when fishing was poor.
Corporate is squeezing the plants to be as efficient as ever, as the costs to run the plants are becoming very high.
No different then any other facet of our lives, prices are going up for all the reasons that we know are true, yet our government tells us inflation is in check, sure.

I wonder why the Strike products don't say Fish meal if it is in there. Anyone know if they use fish meal ?

Bob Lusk spent a weekend of teaching/tutoring in our neighborhood earlier this year. During a visit to a neighboring farm he asked if we knew how to read the label on a bag of fish feed. We all admitted that we didn't really know what it truly meant. Like me, this other farm used Lil' Strike as their primary feed. It is what most of us use due to availability, and especially since it is about half the cost of Aquamax in our local area -- if we can get the local dealers to even order it for us.

I don't want to be wrong, or mis-construe what Bob said, but I believe that he said that we probably could not exceed bluegill weights above 1-1/2 pounds on Lil' Strike, while we probably could achieve bluegill above 2 lbs, possibly 3 lbs. on Aquamax.

I'd love to have a regular supplier of Aquamax. We have four supposed dealers in our local area. Two are Tractor Supply stores -- they apparently are not allowed to sell Aquamax due to some kind of contractual/territorial issues. We have two other independent feed stores within 50 miles of me who sell Purina products. As I've posted above, Aquamax cost me over $50 per 50 lb. bag. That dealer is about 40 miles away. The other Purina dealer, about 30 miles away, simply won't talk to me when I ask about Aquamax. I've been at the front counter at this dealer, and when I ask about it, they say they know nothing about Aquamax. My e-mails and phone messages have gone unanswered from this dealer.

It would be great if Pond Boss could put pressure on Purina to better distribute fish feed across the lower-48.

Dang Cat, I can get any AM product I want in about 2-3 weeks, and I'm way out here in the Pacific!

Ken, have you tried calling Purina themselves and expressing your plight?

I talked to the Purina Reps at the Conference. The Dealer has to order what they think they can sell. Purina just doesn't push the product out there.

Cat you are paying way too much. Check for alternatives.

That is disturbing. I lived in Wahiawa a very long time ago. I was one of the few haoles who broke into the Filipino neighborhood on Ohia Street. I was happy to just get Portuguese sausage and rice for breakfast, and lumpia for lunch. Mainland products were rare and a real luxury to find in the local businesses. We had to go to Arakowa's in Waipahu to get mainland tools and agriculture products. Where you live was basically off-limits because it was the local water supply. It was very dense jungle. Now and then I'd find my way to the water's edge. It was filled with millions of big tilapia.



Scott -- the last time I seriously talked to anyone from Purina about this, it was Mark Griffin. He basically referred me to their website. He left shortly after that.



I too have talked to Purina reps at the last two conferences. I think of it as being similar to where I work. I work for a company with 125,000 world-wide employees. At my level, with more 40 years in this business, and with a multi-million dollar annual income for the company, I'm not even a dot on the earnings charts. I have six levels of management above me! The top five levels have no idea what I do. They have no appreciation for the importance of what my team does, nor even how much profit I bring them. They just always want more money. Our CEO got $37 million last year. I'm guessing that Purina is a lot like where I work.



Eric -- you are absolutely right. I have some Aquamax left, but, I've gone back to Lil' Strike. I'd love to get Aquamax, for its quality and because Purina has been such a great supporter of Pond Boss. But, it is just too much of a hassle to get it ordered, to get it picked up on time, and it is way too expensive.

Ken, the next time you are going thru the area, let me know and I'll make sure that I have all that you want.

Ken I’m not here to slam Purina. They have a great product. However Bob knows all too well my frustration. I have to find my client a local dealer then they go thru what you are going through. I’m done with it. It makes me look bad. We have sent multiple emails to somewhat higher ups in Purina. Their businesses plans are not changing you have to go through a dealer. I cannot be a dealer unless I get 8 tons at a time. Even then LMB pellets are special order.
So I have spoke with Silver Cup and Zeigler they both have some great food. I can get 3 tons shipped to me at good pricing. I can also lineup sales of about 40 bags at a time to clients where freight will not kill you. Ton quantities even better. Ken if you can pull your neighbors this might be an option for you. If interested let me know what product you like. I have a couple of options similar to (possibly better than) aquamax 500.

$37 for a 50# bag in Xenia, Ohio.

they do not keep it in stock but can order a single bag for 36.99 of the aquamax 500 in ocean springs,ms

Aquamax 500 - $39.95 per bag
Aquamax Largemouth 40.95 per bag

In Central Wisconsin

Greg -- thank you from multiple angles. I too, am not here to slam Purina. They provide a good product. They are a good sponsor.

Somehow, I've gotten distracted, and I'd forgotten about Silver Cup and Ziegler. Through the West Virginia Aquaculture Association, the West Virginia University Aquaculture research programs, and the West Virgina Aquaculture Extension Service, I believe I may have a way to piggy-back onto large orders through Ziegler. It is what my research friends seem to prefer for their fish.

Now for my rant:

As I mentioned in my post above, it is sometimes difficult to work for a big corporation. As senior management staff, with 40 years of experience, I still have six layers of higher management above me. I'll never figure it out. Many are giddy young people, 30 years younger than me. They are far senior to me, making 5-10 times my salary, and making really stupid business decisions that didn't work 40 years ago when I entered this industry -- and this group won't listen any better than their predecessors. My organization has been re-organized six times in the last two years by people I've never met. I've seen my boss, who is 3000 miles away, twice in the last year.

I feel Purina is in the same parallel universe. Where I work, we put stock holders and our several hundred vice presidents about fifty levels above customers and employees.

My little group still develops and produces very important products that have no viable competition. We are very profitable. We can't design and manufacture fast enough. Yet, my upper management wants to kill us because we only do about $50 million a year!

I'm afraid that our Purina Aquamax friends are in a very similar situation to mine.

End of rant.

Ken

Just so you know the call has gone out to Purina. We will try this from a different angle.

I'm using Ziegler gold now which is what the tiger trout were fed at the 2 different places that raise them up here, and appears to be a first rate product, plus my trout seem to get the majority of their nutrition from natural forage.

The local Agway here carries it and I don't have to drive 45 miles to the closest Purina dealer.
http://www.zeiglerfeed.com/product_literature/aquaculture%20literature_finfish/Finfish%20G.pdf

Yes AP that is product Im looking to carry. Glad you like it.

IM hopeful Purina will allow drop ship at some point so more folks can use thier products. In the mean time I will be getting large quantities of other prodcuts to help satisfy needs of my clients. Currently waiting three weeks on AQMX LMB

3 weeks for a customer to get a product? That's no way to run a business.

I know I am one of the customers debating on switching over to AM but if the wait time is an issue on top of the price difference it makes me wonder if I want to change or not.

I of course will use what I can as I do not want to stop feeding but not sure why the wait time.

Thanks

Eric,

That is good. It would be good for some influencial people at Purina to see this thread. For a long time I thought it was only me having issues. I would truly like to support Purina and use their products. I know that Bob has been very involved in making their products better, and, as far as I can tell, they have been big supporters of Pond Boss.

Ken

My wait time is between 0 and 7 days.

I've got to plan 2 weeks ahead in order to get AM. Any garden-variety, newly minted MBA graduate could come up with a gameplan for Purina to do better than that. I thought the rest of you in other parts of the country could get it better/faster/cheaper than I could but evidently my plight is the norm. Bottom line, Purina is not meeting customer demand for its AquaMax product and the company is driving consumers to its competitors. This is borderline corporate arrogance. If another high protein, fish meal based product was readily available to me I'd switch in a heartbeat.

WOW..
My hometown feed store, (not a co-op, or chain store, a mom and pop operation), doesn't carry AM in stock, but if I get my order in by Friday, it's there the following Wednesday like clockwork.
When I asked them, they said Purina delivers every Wed, if you want one bag or 10 we can get it for you.

I had them do some checking, and all varieties of AM were in stock at whatever warehouse they use.

Interestingly enough, they said they order more AM 2000 than anything else. I figured most folks must be feeding catfish?

My wait time is the second Friday after I order, no later than a Wednesday, if that makes any sense.

But the feed store is able to order just one bag at a time.

So if I ordered this morning,June 15th, before 9 am, I could get the AM on friday the 24th, after 3 pm.

Mine is next day.. Also I never have to wait they pre-order mine to come in monthly so it's there when I get there every month.. I still call couple days before just to make sure, so far smooth as can be..

I think the main thing is do the suppliers of the feed store you use actually keep it in stock, if so then they ship every week. If not then it is a special order and we are then talking 2-3 weeks.

Mine is a special order, they are Purina dealers, but do not carry AM. They will special order though.

And I agree, someone in senior mgt from Purina really needs to see this thread. AM is very hard to get.

I also have to special order AM500,but they get(local feed store) a delivery I believe every two weeks. They carry on hand Game Fish CHOW,that I use,also. Price of AM500,today was $36.23 less $10.00 with my coupon taken out of PB Mag.

I know 600 is cheaper than 500 by a couple bucks here i wanna say $28 a bag..

I stopped at the feed store on Tuesday. I wanted 4 bags of 600, but they only had 2. They said they'd have the other 2 on Monday, Tuesday at the latest for me. $29.49/bag w/o tax.

Heres an update...Been two weeks on order of 2 tons of AM 600 and 30 bags of lmb. They said not sure they have to wait until they need a big order and might be another two weeks. If someone else made the bigger pellets I would for sure go eleswhere no matter the cost.

Greg, would it help if I ask my supplier about the LMB?

No it us all about freight. It will do not good unless local source has it. Thx

Well the Feed Store just let me know my AM 600 was in on Friday which was much sooner than expected.

I will have to try it out and let you know how my feeder works with it.


The cost was $33.

Ok put the AM 600 in and it works, so I am happy, would prefer to have the 500 but they can not get it without going to another supplier and the shipping would be way to high to mess with for me.

Plus since 600 works I am happy and the fish are eating it ok.

Just wanted to post an update.

Ordered some more yesterday since it takes a while to get the food in.

The feedstore does keep in stock AM Large Mouth since some guy here in town buys 20 bags at a time.

Thanks

My fish are in their spring-time feeding frenzies. My food from last winter is less than optimal, so I went into town to get fresh Purina Game Fish Chow and Aquamax 400 or 500.

Tractor Supply, at least in this area, has now quit carrying Game Fish Chow and Aquamax. They still have Catfish Chow. I stopped in three TSCs, and they all told me the same thing. The people I talked to in my local store are very dedicated employees who could only apologize -- actually, in this local store, three of the employees were really upset to find out they wouldn't be able to buy it in their own store!

After a lot of calling around, I finally found a feed store, Clearbrook Feeds north of Winchester VA, that stocks Game Fish Chow, and several Aquamax sizes.

As opposed to the more-than-2X gouging I got last year when I ordered from another Purina Dealer about 50 miles from me, these people are at least charging reasonable prices.

I love the Purina fish feeds. I just wish they could get a good local supply in place for our area.

I live in Lincoln, NE, which has over a quarter million people. I have ZERO options when it comes to Aquamax. No product. No sizes. No nothing. It's frustrating. So I have to go to Crete, which is a half hour drive for me. After factoring in gas, and the fact that I'm probably buying only a few bags, it works out to be like $2/lb. Frustrating enough to consider changing to a new product. I have eight grow out cages, and I'm going to be doing a side-by-side comparison of Aquamax to other feeds. Silver Cup will be sending me some feed. Any suggestions on other feed products to try in my study?

I haven't been on here for a spell but glad to see this thread moved a little. I just ordered 100 lbs of 5D06 (600 grower) and was told $33 per 50 lb bag. Which is less than I paid last year from a different place.

This is the year of the 16 inch perch from my pond...

Wish I new the brands carried at tractor supply, rural king, or buchiett doubt you even have any of them stores down by you..

First part of that post is very frustrating especially for someone with your needs..

But really interested in your results.. Please keep us informed..

Bought 2 bags of AM600 last week. $36.39/bag + tax at a local feed store. Local Tractor Supply doesn't carry it.

Ranch county feed store with high volume customers ...
AQMX 600, $28.00-$30.00 per bag - don't know why cost varies - probably delivery costs.

Yeah I found a spot for 30 bucks a 50 pound bag, but I actually got a bag at the local TSC for 43 bucks! Kind of pricey but they had it so I got it!!! It's not easy to find this food without ordering it. You should be able to get it from 30 to 45 bucks I would think. The highest I have seen it is 49 bucks.

I just wish I could it fresher than 2 months old.

I just bought 5D03, $43.60 for a 50 lb bag here in central Louisiana, had to be ordered.

How does one figure out the date when looking at the tag?

It should be printed on the bag. I'll take a picture when I get home if you haven't figured it out by then.

I just paid $51 FOR A BAG HERE IN pa.... ITS CRAZY.

$35.95 for AM 600, didn't carry the 500.

Still $34.00 a bag here for the 600 and 500. AM largemouth is $28.00

What type of fish are you feeding 5D03 to?

jsand13 - you should buy a truck load of AM Largemouth and go on the road. paying $40.50 for a bag here in Central WI.

I paid 53.33 for two bags of Aquamax largemouth (40lb bags) last night at my co-op (that price includes the 7% sales tax). They have always been very reasonable to work with - will order me one or as many bags as I need!

I'd love to have that price. I'd actually recommend the product to a lot more people if we could get it here for anything less than a fortune. Wouldn't you think that in Nebraska, a farming state, that we could get Purina product for an OK price. I'm not exaggerating when I say I could have sold them 200 bags just in Lincoln if it were available.

Bruce, Have you tried Waverly COOP? Perhaps though if you live south of Lincoln, Crete is just as close.

I'd go to Waverly in a heartbeat if the price was better. Maybe I'd better check on them!

Bruce, 200 bags is 10,000#. With your contacts, what about getting in touch with Purina personally and becoming a dealer? I'll bet they'd freight out a half or full pallet of bags. My dealer orders less than 10 bags/month.

AM 500 and 600 are around $37 at Crete Lumber near Lincoln. $304 for 3 bags of 500, 3/600 and 2 LMB. Not very competitive IMO plus requires a 45 minute round trip drive. Not the end of the world, but certainly not a good deal nor convenient.

The folks at Purina won't acknowledge him, no matter how hard he tries.

It's mostly throught the BBG site that I could sell feed. I get inquiries all the time..."What do you feed your fish?", and I've always told them "Purina Aquamax 500", but I can't get any without special order and almost $1/pound. Then they say that they'd order at least 5-10 bags, but since they can't get it, they default to another cheaper option. Sometimes availability is all you need. People lose interest if they have to make an effort to get something.

I just looked back at my PM's from last year on BBG, and there were ten inquiries that would have likely totalled 100 bags, plus the twenty that I go through, plus the ones that TJ goes through. I guess it would be more like 140 bags instead of 200. Sorry about the exuberence.

I would never be interested in becoming a dealer. I think I'd need a special license, tax ID number, etc, which would be a huge PIA just to make a little spare change. It would just be nice if Lincoln, NE had a place I could get my feed. Truly the biggest hassle for me isn't the price. It's the travel to get the product. If you had that inconvenience and gasoline to the price of the product, it's just kind of unbelievable. It's not like Lincoln is some tiny town in New Mexico. It's the second biggest city in one of the biggest agricultural states in the U.S. Just can't figure it out. Tractor Supply Company is just a couple miles from me and they're actually a Purina dealer, but they refuse to order Aquamax for me....

Makes me grateful for my local mom and pop feed store. They will get me one bag, or 3 at a time, and never seem to have any problem coming up with it. It's not the cheapest, last year it ran around $34, but I'm just glad to be able to get it.

I recommend AQ500 all the time when people come into the shop and see my photos of fish, and the PondBoss items on the counter and wall. They always want to know what I feed my fish, and where to get it. The feed store jokingly says I'm a good salesman for them, so they must be selling more AQ than they used too.

$72.90 for a bag of AM500 and a bag of AM600 at Berend Brothers in Bowie Texas.

$102 including tax for three bags of 500 here. Order one week in advance. If want largemouth or fry, order two weeks in advance.

Since your HBG are so large now do you think they would benefit from AQ600 at this point, or do you think it is better to just stick with the 500?

Got pricing from supplier today for AM LM at $26 a bag.

Just got 2 bags of 500 and a bag of 600 from the local feed mill. $30.50 each before tax. They special order it which takes a week to 10 days to get in.

I picked up a bag of 5D06 today for $30.00. Tax is included in the price.

Every single one of you does way better than me.

I've called around several times in the past and found everyone about the same.

I go through about 100,000 pounds of feed a year and that number goes up by 20% every year. I have tried to be loyal to Purina Mills over the years due to their affiliation with Pond Boss, but have quit recommending or selling their product completely. They would never give me the time of day (except one year when Darren Simon was there he wanted my business and got it). Since then I'm not wasting time trying to jump through hoops.

Silver Cup has been great to deal with, but their high protein food is meant for coolwater fish and it makes my warmwater fish morbidly obese (not in a good way).

I am now a registered dealer of Cargill fish food (the largest privately owned company in the US. I met the guy at the Pond Boss conference and he wanted my business. They supply many of the huge fish farms in Arkansas and are just now reaching out to the end users (us). They carry several lines of fish food with complete diets and high protein levels for warmwater species.

They ship direct to my clients all over the nation which is a huge bonus for me, because I can recommend a product and make money selling it as opposed to recommending Aquamax and trying to help a client find it locally.

Anyhow Im not gonna peddle this product too much because I havent even tried it yet personally, my first shipment is coming in next week. But they certainly have the customer service down pat so far. If their product pans out I will be very happy. (Bruce, this is where we test in your cages as well).

Just wanted to put this information out there, because it seemed like many people are frustrated with Aquamax, maybe a little attention on the pond boss forum will wake them up a little bit.

Nate spoke with cargill folks as well and been using their products for years picked up when getting trout. We moved 20 tons of thier product and never knew they even made it. Good to read great minds think alike and yes so far they have been responsive. Freight cost will still be an issue however on small orders.

The AM500 was $36 in Lumberton, MS.

2 bags of AM600 $54+tax..

Nate,

I was told virtually the same thing by the assistant manager of the biggest yellow perch farm in the world here in Indiana. Why a company can be so unresponsive to such a potential large buyer is beyond me. The crazy thing is one of their feed mills is not that far from the farm!

Nate/Greg

This is good news...please keep us in the loop in terms of the performance of this Cargill pellet. Could be a great option for all of us and we appreciate you giving us the head's up.

Is the Cargill feed branded "Cargill" or "Nutrena"? Or what is the exact name of it?

In my area a bag of game fish chow is like $24 a bag and the AM 400 is like $42 a bag. Only a couple places keep the game fish chow in stock, all AM is order only.

GFC is $23 this year, did not even ask about the AM 500 or 600 as last year it took for ever to get it, and then they ordered the wrong amount of each and wanted me to buy it all at once.

I believe Cargill bought out Burris Mill and Feeds in Louisania. Here's the Cargill Website:

http://www.cargill.com/feed/species/aquaculture/index.jsp

I'm being told by someone in the aquaculture field that apparently Purina Mills seems to be more interested in maintaining a niche market than taking on large producer orders.

That web site for freshwater fish is poor. No info that I could find except this.

Freshwater fish:
Channel catfish, walking catfish, many species of carp, pacu, arapaima, bluegill, largemouth bass, yellow perch, bait fishes such as minnows and suckers, sturgeon, trout, hybrid striped bass.

Anyone have more info ?

I'm curious as to what differentiates their "freshwater feed" from their "trophy" feed. Bluegill is listed under both, but as Eric stated, no details are given.

I was wondering where I was going to get feed for the walking catfish I plan to stock this year.

Ask Floridians about walking catfish... I'm betting you they'd give you a few for free!

$34 for a bag of 600 at Waverly, Nebraska COOP.

Eric

A little lower they list our common species as "trophy fish". They need a little fisheries education over there, but thought you'd like to see this regardless as bass, sunfish and perch are mentioned.

Freshwater fish:
Channel catfish, walking catfish, many species of carp, pacu, arapaima, bluegill, largemouth bass, yellow perch, bait fishes such as minnows and suckers, sturgeon, trout, hybrid striped bass.
Marine fish:
Asian sea bass (barramundi), yellow tail, tuna, cobia, sea trout, gilt head bream/dorada, dolphin fish, amberjack, grouper, red snapper, red drum, pompano, milkfish, salmon, halibut, cod.
Ornamental fish:
Koi, goldfish, fancy goldfish, and approximately 100 species of salt water aquarium fish.
Trophy fish:
Bass, bluegill, catfish, brim, perch.
Prawns
Crabs
Turtles
Alligators, crocodiles and caimans

So what does that tell us ? I would like some real info on the products.

I went to TS over the weekend and they had GFC and a Cargill Brand (something like Sportsman's Choice Trophy Feeds) - both all purpose feeds. I read the labels of both. GFC listed both fish meal and fish oil as ingredients. No fish meal in SC mostly grains.

Can't find on Cargill web site but did find this on TS site

Sportsman's Choice® Trophy Fish™ Feed is a 36% protein multi-species fish formula designed to be fed to bluegill, catfish, bass, brim, tilapia, and other farm pond species in a recreational feeding program.

Features:

•36% protein to support multiple farm pond species of fish.
•Pond Balancing Technology that uses smaller morsels that sink to feed smaller fish and larger morsels that float to feed bigger fish. This Pond Balancing Technology helps promote proper food chain facilitation.
•Highly palatable to maximize intake.
•Stabilized and high levels of vitamins to ensure correct nutrient balance to support rapid growth.
Ingredients:

Grain products, Plant Protein Products, Processed Grain By-Products, Animal Protein Products, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Niacin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Folic Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin Kactivity), Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, L-Lysine, Ascorbic Acid, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, copper Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Fish Oil.

Here is GFC from an online source

Game Fish Chow®

Complete and balanced nutrition for full range of pond fish. Excellent for catfish, bluegill, minnows and carp Koi,Goldfish Tropical.

•Multiple Size Particle - feeds all sizes of fish

•Floating ration - great for viewing

•Higher digestibility of nutrients

•32% high protein with attractant

•Added Vitamin C to reduce deficiency-related problems

•Enhances production of forage fish to enhance size and number of bass
Types Of Fish: Tropical ,FreshWater GoldFish, Koi,Shubunkins and Pond FishFeeding Instructions: Feed as the sole diet 2 times daily. Feed as much as the fish will consume in ten (10) minutes of feeding.
Storage Instructions: Store in cool, dry place away from sunlight. Maintains nutritive value and shelf life up to one (1) year if properly stored and handled. Frozen storage extends shelf life beyond one (1) year.



G u a r a n t e e d A n a l y s i s
Crude protein (min.) 32.00%
Crude fat (min.) 3.00%
Crude fiber (max.) 6.00%

Phosphorus (P) (min) 0.80%
Ash (max) 8.50%
I n g r e d i e n t s
Dehulled Soybean Meal, Wheat Middlings, Ground Corn, Fish Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Salt, Porcine Meat Meal, Ground Oats, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Ground Wheat, Calcium Carbonate, Ground Soybean, Hulls, Betaine, Cane Molasses, Dried Beef Pulp, Wheat Germ, Dicalcium Phosphate, Monocalcium Phosphate, Soybean Oil, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate, Vitamin A Supplement, Porcine Animal Fat Preserved With BHA, Folic Acid, Choline Chloride, Vitamin D Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Riboflavin, Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, DL-Methionine, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Manganous Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Carbonate, Copper Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Cobalt Carbonate, Sodium Selenite.

Looks like a good project for someone to try both of these out in two different ponds to see which performs better.

Then again the odds of having exactly 2 ponds that are identical would be near impossible.

But would make a nice project all the same.

Sounds like I need to add my mom and pop feed store to my Christmas card list this year. I feel sorry for the folks on here who are having issues with price or availability with the AQ, I hope an acceptable substitute can be located.

As for me: I can't argue with the results I'm seeing. Couple that with easy availability, and I'm staying put with my AQ500.

ok, this is weird. I was quoted $40.50 for a 40lbs AM Largemouth but when I went to pick it up today it was $32.

AM 500 Grower was 38.50 for 50lbs bag.

So price dropped..not sure..but I will take it.

$32 sounds about right

Ok way behind on work but popped in to PB today. Quickly, Cargill is big so they have many labels. I will not address the sportsman, nutrena, etc. We are carrying their aquafeed. They also have an aquaxcel product. This is for fingerlings in smaller extruded pellet sizes. 0.3 to 3.2 mm. I agree love to test to see what works but man they have a bunch of formulations. They do this because they mainly sell to aquaculture and design feeds for specific sizes and species. Since not having test for prove next best thing is ask. Several very reputable hatcheries have been using this feed. That means a lot to me they have to use what is most cost effective to make it in business.
After meeting with David Hines I have decided to go with 42-12 as the one I want to stock in house. It has to be simple here. The 45-12 is preferred for max bluegill growth and also choice for feed trained bass. However for cost reasons I’m going with the 42-12. This is far superior to 32% catfish food or the 36% protein stuff we carried last year. I had started using a 40-10 but my price is slight better for this 42-12 from Cargill. Eric the label is poor marketing David told me the 42-12 had higher fish meal than aquamax but they simply label it all under animal protein. Again their market has always been for aquaculture not for recreational.
We will be able to ship as few as 20 bags to clients and even with freight come in close to aquamax pricing. There are several pellet sizes to choose from as well. Sometimes it might take a couple of weeks to make they have to run several tons at a time. If you can take 40-60 bags then you really start to see some much better fish food prices due to less fright per bag and it appears to be a better product. We can get the 45-12 as well if wanting some monster size bluegill. For trout 48-18 available as well. Anyway I hope this is helpful.

Greg if they don't put it on the label then it means nothing. It is the only proof you have of what is in the bag.

Yes agree they are changing the label. Not monkeying with formulation just changing. Legally they can say animal protein products and dumb move to say that and not fish meal. No one post percentage of fish meal but told it is higher. I trust the results coming from hatchery.

I have been feeding game fish chow for several years. I recently bought a couple of bags AQ-MX LMB. All the fish love the AQ-MX. Now they won't touch the GFC.

Jack.....

Just be lucky you guys don't have to buy the 5D00 Aquamax. It's $46.00 per bag! Part of the expense may be I've been told they farm it out to another manufacturer to produce.

I got a killer deal last week.. Buy 2 get one free.. I bought 4 got 2 free.. Got 3 500 and 3 600..

BGK -- What was your total for six bags? I bought two of each 500 and 600 last week and my bill was right at $95.00 with tax.

That is nice, that makes it cheaper than what I pay for GFC.

Bing, that's a heck of a deal! Cheaper than any that I can find.

OOPS, senior moment. i just got part of my memory back. It turns out that there were only three bags. I bought and paid for the fourth the day before. Makes quite a difference.

2-600 were $54 and change 2-500 were $64 and change about $120 tax included in that.. $120 for six bags ain't bad.. Greenville FS had a grand opening ceremony for that little store they added on "Country Depot" it was buy 2 get one on all purina specialty foods and buy one get one on purina dog food..

I just threw out the labels and invoices from feed I've recently gotten from Zigler, Purina, Cargill, and a couple of others. I was saving them for this thread. Good or bad, I threw them out a few days ago.

I'm frustrated, and I've gone back to an old standby which is not bad food, but not great food. Yet, over the last six or so years, it seems to have stayed consistent in make-up. The price hasn't change much more than the national inflation average.

I'm now feeding five ponds on my property, and a number of ponds/raceways/pools at neighboring properties. Every time I change feed, the fish take a week or two to adapt to a new food -- if they adopt at all.

I know Purina is a major sponsor for Pond Boss, but for some reason, no local supplier seems to keep Purina's fish feed line for very long. As most of you know, I'm a pretty strong Pond Boss supporter.
Yet, Purina will not answer my e-mails, and their phone system is useless. Their fish feed prices range well over a 400% high/low range from various local suppliers -- if they will supply it at all. These same suppliers are major Purina dealers for other feeds.

Small special orders are exorbitant -- like $52 a bag for Aquamax 200, 300, or 400. I can't afford it, and my friends generally don't want to.

Like other major PB hobbyists, I'm now using quite a few tons of feed per year. I'd actually like to be a supplier, but since I can't contact them ...

If Bruce Condello can't get their attention at a request for 10 tons per year, and I can't get their attention... I just don't understand.

Time to go dig another pond!

From my perspective, get the best and most consistent local feed you can.

Regards,
Ken

Yeah I have gotten lucky in this I have a guy where my pond is that can get my AM500 and 600 for 30 bucks a bag! I am pretty happy with that price.

Ken we priced the fish meal based 42-12 4.8 mm (same as 500) 50 lb bag feed fpr PBosser at $25/bag and freight was $125 for 20 bags. No tax and right to your door.

If you got a couple of feeders good option. For 40 bags dropped price to $24/bag and freight per bag even less should be well under $30 shipped. I feel this is a good product the 45-12 is $3 more and excellent food. So there are options still out there. Pricey for those just wanting a bag or two but those going through several bags of food can save money for a great product.

We got in touch with them (Purina) to be a dealer, and they said no go unless we had a retail store, forklift, and sold their complete line - couldn't just carry the fish food.

Ken,

I'm seeing the same response in my state when it come to fish farms that would be willing to buy large quantities. The largest fish farm in the world now in Indiana (now a 60 million investment) last I heard gave up trying to deal with Purina Mills. Apparently PM wants to be a small niche supplier? And that's with one of their feeds mill right here in Indiana just a few miles down the road!

I contacted them once and told them I had the following dandy picture of a fish there 5D19 produced remarkable colors for -- that they could use for a promotion -- and got a ho hum response from the person I talked to. (She seemed bored with my call) I'm puzzled as I've never seen a supplier so unenthusiastic about potential business. I was always taught once as a business major that if you don't grow as a business you die.





That said i can get the few bags I need every month from my local dealer by ordering ahead and will still with Aquamax until something better comes along.

Cecil -- Like you, I am a long time AA (that's Aquaculture Association) member/officer/whatever in my state. I volunteer a lot of hours to our state's aquaculture extension service -- helping industry, hobbyists, and many in between. I work with the state government's efforts to promote aquaculture.

Greg -- I appreciate the offer. My main concern is that I would like to support those who support Pond Boss, and Purina is certainly a major contributor to the success of Pond Boss. In a secondary role, as an elected West Virginia Aquaculture Association officer, I would like promote a good variety of known high quality fish feed, that is regularly available to our commercial producers and serious hobbyists. We have several great suppliers who ask for little in return, except for our business.

I feel the Purina fish feeds meet all of our commercial and hobby requirements -- except that their availability is extremely unreliable, and their pricing ranges from reasonable to exorbitant. It is real difficult to use or promote their products based on these issues.

Ken

I think there our discussions about cargill aquafeed being a PB advertiser. I keep trying anyways. I dont really care to get in the fish food game not a profitable business just trying to help customers get a good quality feed when not available otherwise.

For those looking for a little more info on the Cargill TrophyFish Feed, here is the manufacturers' link:

http://www.sportsmanschoicefeeds.com/scf/en/products/fish/trophy-fish-feed/index.jsp

I've been using this for about a week or so now (all I could find close to me) and the CC have really taken a liking to it. They'll stay on the top and eat it for as long as you throw it. I haven't seen much else hit, few splashes here and there from smaller fish but nothing like the CC interest.

Price was $12.99 for a 25lb bag.

FYI that is on the low side of good food for bluegill. Excellent food for catfish.

It would be nice to find out what the protein is made of: fish or feathers!