The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded Ohio’s Central State University (CSU) a $10 million Sustainable Agriculture Systems (SAS) project that will assess the potential use of hemp as an aquaculture feed. The project will also train new aquaculture producers and increase local production of healthy fish in the Menominee Nation. The project is also designed to provide workforce training to increase the Native American and African American graduates in agriculture. 

The first of its kind, this five-year project will be led by CSU and its multidisciplinary team in partnership with the College of Menominee Nation, Kentucky State University, the University of Delaware, the University of Kentucky and Mississippi State University and will investigate using hemp as an aquaculture feed ingredient to address food safety concerns about consuming seafood raised with hemp feed additives. The team will also research ways to increase economic markets and production sustainability for seafood and hemp.

Brandy E. Phipps, research assistant professor of food, nutrition, and health, said that “this project impacts the entire value system chain ensuring that CSU positively impacts regional and national agricultural economics, increase the diversity of the agricultural workforce, develop environmentally and economically sustainable hemp and aquaculture systems, and ultimately improve the quality of lives of Americans, particularly those from underserved populations.”