Aquaponics Farmer Career Profile
- Career Name - Aquaponics Farmer
- Category - Farming & Livestock Management / Business
- Skills Required - Life skills 40% - Career skills 60%
- Basic School Subjects - Language, Biology, Business
- Minimum Required Education - High School Certificate
- Species Worked With - Fish
- Kind of Interaction with Animals - Direct
Do you want to work as an Aquaponics Farmer?
READ: This page helps you to read about the career and the info you need to decide on whether this is indeed the career you want to follow.
RESEARCH: Learn about the skills required and minimum subjects to enter this career, as well as the places where you can study further after school.
PREPARE: If you want to plan and prepare for the career, then join the OZT Community! Members have access to tools, while chatting with other students and experts from around the world. Prepare to be amazed!
CAREER MENTOR
UPDATED: 23 May 2023
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What is an Aquaponics Farmer?
An Aquaponics Farmer manages the combined breeding of fish and the flow of water from the fish to grow soil-less plants.
Basically aquaponics is the use of nutrient rich water from fish enclosures to help plants grow. The plants are not planted in soil, but usually placed in something so that the roots are exposed. The plants absorb the nutrients as the water flow over the roots. Excess water is then pumped back into the fish enclosure.
Aquaponics uses the best of all the growing techniques, utilizing the waste of one to benefit another mimicking a natural Ecosystem.
Aquaponics Products:
- Fish meat – the harvesting of fish, such as trout, for the local market
- Fish Eggs – harvest fish eggs for consumption (caviar) or breeding
- Vegetables – harvest the plants for own consumption or for sale to the local market
Career Categories
The Aquaponics Farmer career can be found in the following career categories:
- Farming and Livestock Management
- Business
What does an Aquaponics Farmer do?
Groups of animals an Aquaponics Farmer works with
What is the level of Interaction with the Animals?
- Directly - A person works directly with the animals with some form of physical contact at least once every few days
- Indirectly - The career doesn't require direct or physical contact at all.
What does an Aquaponics Farmer focus on?
An Aquaponics Farmer focuses on the management of both plants (mostly vegetables) and fish which are linked through a constant flow of water.
Aquaponics Products:
- Fish meat
- Fish Eggs
- Vegetables
What are the daily tasks of an Aquaponics Farmer?
- Build and maintain enclosures and water piping
- Research new fish breeding methods and practices
- Keep Environment safe and clean
- Monitor health of the plants and fish
- Liaise with product buyers
- Administration and marketing
The working environment of an Aquaponics Farmer
Where does an Aquaponics Farmer work?
Environment –
An Aquaponics Farmer will spend most of the day outdoors, managing the breeding of the fish and water flow through the plants.
Places of Employment –
They work mostly in their own privately owned businesses.
What is the average annual salary of an Aquaponics Farmer?
They can earn a yearly average of US$40,000 per year. But the income depends on many factors, such as how large and established the farm is, the amount of breeding stock, and the need for fish products.
Can an Aquaponics Farmer be promoted?
Most farmers own their own businesses (small to large scale farms), which means you are already the boss.
What difficulties can an Aquaponics Farmer face?
Farming is a labour and financially intensive career. Initial equipment purchases will be expensive, and maintaining a good profit can be difficult.
The work might also entail long hours and working over weekends and holidays.
Future Growth and Possibilities
Overall employment of Aquaponics Farmers is projected to grow steady at around 4%.
Which Skills are required by an Aquaponics Farmer?
The skills required for a career as a Pigeon Farmer can be divided into two very important groups. The first is the group containing life skills, which are the core skills that are necessary or desirable for full participation in everyday life. The second group is career skills, or the specific skills required to allow a person to enter and operate effectively within a specific career. Some or maybe even all of the life skills can assist in strengthening the career skills, and they might even be the same for specific careers.
Life Skills
- Self-awareness
- Empathy
- Critical thinking
- Creative thinking
- Decision making
- Problem Solving
- Effective communication
- Interpersonal relationship
Career Skills
- Animal handling
- Animal care
- Good health and physical fitness
- Computer literacy
- Business knowledge
Which Subjects must I have at School to prepare for this career?
Language as a subject is key for you to understand more about communication and agricultural terminology.
A basic biological or physiological knowledge of a Fish is extremely important if you plan to work with them every day.
Understanding in the basics of subjects such as business or even bookkeeping will be of tremendous help if you want to start your own breeding farm.
The subjects you choose at school are important as they lay the foundation for further studies at college or university. While still at school, it’s also important to learn more about the animals you will work with, as well as gain some experience.
OZT has a list of various tertiary institutions where you can study further, after school. Each of these institutions also have their own Group page on OZT where you will find the exact subjects they require of you to have passed in school. Keep these requirements in mind, and discuss it with your school, guidance counselor and parents to ensure that you are prepared!
What will I need to Study to become an Aquaponics Farmer?
Minimum Requirements
The minimum qualifications to become a farmer is a High School Certificate. For more intensive farming a college diploma or university degree would be best.
Study Focus
Majors –
You can follow a diploma or degree with majors in animal science, animal management, animal husbandry.
Short Courses –
Short Courses in the breeding methods and aquaponics.
Study Duration
The duration of a College Diploma is between 2 to 3 years, and a University Degree is between 3 and 4 years. Short Courses are usually between a few weeks and a year.
Possible Career Preparation Paths
If this is your dream career that you want to pursue, then it’s important to plan the way forward.
Why is planning important?
To ensure that you understand the requirements for your career, and that you are always prepared for the next step on the road towards your dream. A Preparation Path is like your road map to where you want to be.
Possible Paths:
Possible Combined Career Paths
It is possible to sometimes combine two or more related careers. This normally happens when you study and practice a specific main career, but the knowledge and experience gained also help you to have a paying hobby or secondary income career.
Possible Alternatives (there are a lot more):
Stepping Stone Career
Being an Aquaponics Farmer can also be used as a stepping stone career. A stepping stone career is one which is used to help you get to another career, normally because the other career is too difficult to reach (sometimes due to things like high fees etc).
You can begin as a junior after basic short courses and expert guidance (maybe working under a mentor). The money made can then be used to pay for studies towards a promotion or another career, and the experience helps in gaining knowledge. One paying to help get to the other.
Some of the possible paths:
Training and Apprenticeship
Even though it is important to study to get into some of the animal careers, most of the skills you will need as an Aquaponics Farmer will be acquired through practice. This means that you will learn how to perform some of the daily tasks by actually doing it a few times and learning the steps.
In some cases entry level positions require training sessions even before you are allowed to actually perform your job duties. These sessions can be offered by the place of employment, after you have successfully applied.
Apprenticeship is also possible where you need to learn skills from an aquaponics expert.
Join the Aquaponics farmers Group to learn more and even interact with the educational institutions that will help you secure your dream career!
Average level of education of all the people who enter the career
Licenses, Certificate, Registration and Professional Associations
Permits may be necessary due to the health requirements involved in certain countries where water is used in aquaponic farming.
Learn more about requirements by joining the OZT Community.
Professional Associations
Where can I study further?
All of the above information will help you understand more about the Career, including the fact that there are different paths to take to reach it. But if you are almost done with High School (Grades 11 or 12), you also need to start thinking about further studies, and WHERE you will study.
See the List of Universities, Colleges and Online Training Academies who offer courses towards the field of farming and aquaponics.
Join the OZT community and Career Group
Join us as a special member and learn more about becoming an Aquaponics Farmer.
Members of the Platform have special access to:
- Info on the best places where you can study (colleges, universities and online)
- Expertly designed advice to prepare you for the career, and links to places where you can gain valuable experience. For some career experience is necessary, otherwise you wont get the job!
- Top notch info on each of the different species you will work with
- Make friends around the world and share knowledge
- Compete and win points, badges, games, prizes and certificates. Be the best of the best, while you learn and prepare!
If you have decided on being an Aquaponics Farmer, please click on the JOIN GROUP button. Members will be directed to the Group, while non-members will be assisted to register first.
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