More than 1,000 miles from the nearest ocean, shrimp farming is taking hold in several rural Iowa locations thanks to two Iowa State University alumni.
Midland Co., a land-based seafood technology company, was co-founded by Jackson Kimle (’16) and Matt Ellis (’19) in 2018. Collaborating with farmers, the company raises “sustainable, ethical, and delicious” shrimp.
A goal in starting the business was to offer farmers an alternative species to raise beyond the traditional cows, pigs, or poultry.
“Farmers are looking for ways to diversify their farms and drive income,” Kimle says. “We wanted to enable farmers to get involved in shrimp farming and be able to have a scalable business model that provides capital and labor.”
A unique addition to Iowa’s landlocked farming community, shrimp is the No. 1 seafood consumed in the United States. In 2023, Americans consumed 1.7 billion pounds of shrimp (5.10 pounds per person), according to the National Fisheries Institute.
Knowing there was demand, Kimle and Ellis set out to create a system to provide fresh, high-quality shrimp to Midwesterners. Midland Co. has contracts with six farmers — four in Iowa, one in Minnesota and one in New Hampshire — to raise Pacific white shrimp.
They work with interested farmers to determine whether shrimp is a good fit for their operation, considering existing infrastructure, labor requirements, and cost. If a farmer is approved, Midland Co. employees install all the equipment, and Kimle checks in with each farmer weekly to see how things are going.
Adding Aquaculture to Iowa Agriculture
Ted Hammes (’81) of Story City, Iowa, joined Midland Co. as one of its first contract shrimp farmers in 2024. A retired agricultural business professional, Hammes was looking for a hobby to keep him busy. He decided to try shrimp farming after attending a seminar where Kimle talked about the business.
“It’s pretty interesting to see the baby shrimp when they first arrive at around 20 days old — they’re very tiny,” Hammes says of his shrimp operation in Hampton, Iowa. “It’s very satisfying to net them from the tanks when they’re fully grown and realize the final product is ready for consumption.”
Ken (’97) and Aimee (’00) Reed of Washington, Iowa, are in year two of raising shrimp. Each month, they make the six-hour trek to a shrimp breeder in Minnesota, where they pick up 25,000 12- to 18-day-old shrimp. Once home, the shrimp are slowly acclimated to the warm water of a nursery tank, where they live until they reach 35 days in age. At that point, the shrimp are transferred to finisher tanks and harvested once they are 90 to 100 days old. Some of the shrimp are sent to a processor in Minnesota, while others are sold directly to customers by the Reeds.
As former hog farmers, the Reeds say raising shrimp is not much different.
“The basics of animal husbandry are all there — whether you’ve raised turkeys, chickens, cows, or pigs, you already have the basics of what you need to raise shrimp,” Ken Reed says. “You have to feed and check on them every day, and you learn to recognize when they don’t look healthy.”
Eric (’87) and Ann (’87) Franzenburg of Pheasant Run Farm near Belle Plaine, Iowa, are getting their shrimp operation up and running. The shrimp will complement the farm’s existing cut flowers, medicinal herbs, fruits, and vegetables.
“We’re excited about the future of shrimp production on our farm and being able to provide a clean, locally grown product to our customers,” Eric Franzenburg says.
Aimee Reed encourages those interested in raising shrimp to do their research, saying “it’s not going to be a cake walk.”
“Our first year was a learning curve for us. We’ve definitely had our good days and our bad days,” she says. “Working with Jackson and Matt, we’ve spent a lot of time researching, thinking, and learning how to make our operation run at its best.”
