Economics of production of channel catfish, ictalurus punctatus, female x blue catfish, I. furcatus, male hybrid fingerlings and foodfish

Tie profitability of the channel‐blue hybrid catfish fingerlings and foodfish was compared to that of the channel catfish using enterprise budgets and sensitivity analyses. Average total costs of production were 15.0–22.5 per cent less for hybrids fingerlings, even if hybrid fry were bought at a price twice as high as that for channel catfish. Average total costs were $33.00 per 1000 fingerlings and $44.00 per 1,000 fingerlings for hybrid and channel catfish fingerlings, respectively. The net returns to land, labor, and management were $15,020.00 per hectare ($6008.00/acre), and $3,710.00 per hectare ($1484.00/acre) for hybrid and channel catfish foodfish production, respectively, assuming selling prices of $130 per thousand and $100 per thousand, respectively. Sensitivity analyses indicated that farm price had the largest effect on net profits, followed by feed conversion and feed price, with fingerling price having the smallest effect on net profits among these variables for hybrid catfish, foodfish production.