These Malaysian prawns weigh up to six ounces and have a lobster-like taste.
Trey Ratliff, 14, gets muddy while working in the pond to help harvest the shrimp.
Something fishy going on at Winchester farm
By RAE WILSON Brown News Service
WINCHESTER - Tom and Betty Jo Ratliff know a thing or two about farming. Farmers for 27 years, they have successfully harvested tobacco, grain, hay and sunflower seeds and also raised beef cattle and Hampshire hogs. Four years ago, the Ratliffs added shrimp to their list.
The Ratliffs now raise shrimp every year from June to September, with twice a day feedings and two harvest days, one for each of their two ponds.
During the first harvest this year, on Sept. 16, the Ratliffs harvested 300 pounds of shrimp and sold out to a crowd of 150 people. On Saturday, Sept. 23, the second harvest, Tom Ratliff, along with friends and family, worked in the rain to drain the pond and harvest the shrimp. Water is drained from the pond the day before the harvest and on a harvest day, an eight-inch drain moves shrimp into a holding pond. A box at the edge of the holding pond helps catch the shrimp.
Brian Ratliff, 26, waited at the edge to catch the shrimp as they came out of the drain.
"The shrimp come out slow at first, but when the water gets low, they start moving pretty fast. It gets pretty hectic out here," said Betty Jo.
From the pond, the shrimp are moved to a barn where they are held until the sale. The shrimp are kept alive until right before the sale, when they are dunked into a bath of ice cold water, which kills them.
Friends and family help harvest the shrimp. The Ratliffs have four children who are all involved in the process, along with their friends and neighbors.
Freshwater shrimp are known as Malaysian prawns, and can grow from four to six ounces. These shrimp have less than .5 percent fat and less cholesterol than their seawater counterparts.
They also have no iodine.
"The flavor is different, too," said Betty Jo. "Our shrimp are less fishy and have a lobster-like taste. A lot of people who don't like seafood try our shrimp and like them because they are so mild."
The shrimp sell at the harvest for $10 a pound and the event usually draws a crowd.
"We have a lot of people who drive from the city," said Betty Jo. Locals like it, too.
"Woo-hoo, we got some big ones," said Becky Leis, of West Union. "Last year we only bought two pounds, but this year we want five."
Those coming to buy shrimp are advised to bring coolers with ice to keep the shrimp fresh. Buyers take a number and wait.
"The first year, everyone kind of lined up and didn't get to see what was going on in the pond," said Betty Jo. "Now we give out numbers so everyone can walk around."
As part of a tobacco diversification program, the Ratliffs received a grant to help pay for a pond to harvest shrimp, and built a second pond the next year. In June, 8,000 shrimp, about one centimeter long, are thrown into the first pond. The second pond holds 12,000 shrimp and contains netting to give the shrimp more room to grow. Usually, the shrimp stay on the bottom of the ponds and grow until they are harvested in September.
The Ratliff Farm is located on John Woods Road in Winchester.
