At the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Oklahoma Grassroots Rural and Ag Business Accelerators Demo Day, Associate Farm Editor Reagan Calk had the chance to visit with Kaben Smallwood, a participant in the Customized Development program, about his business and participation.
The Oklahoma Grassroots Rural & Ag Business Accelerators program is a collaborative rural development initiative from the Oklahoma Farm Bureau and national and state-level partners developing Oklahoma-based innovators creating ideas, technologies, and products creating economic Opportunities in rural Oklahoma.
Smallwood is the founder of Symbiotic, and he and his team participated in the Customized Development program, which provided tailored resources and mentorship plans in the form of three or four action items for companies that have already completed at least 60 percent of the work covered by existing Activate Oklahoma rural development pipeline or Cultivate Oklahoma agricultural innovation pipeline.
Symbiotic builds and operates recirculating aquaponics systems to raise fish and produce in controlled environments. Symbiotic designs both backyard and commercial aquaponics systems and offers consulting services, educational opportunities, and more.
“My company specializes in building autonomous, organic farms of the future,” Smallwood said. “We do this by building recirculating water systems where we raise fish and produce. We combine that with cutting-edge engineering and design.”
Smallwood explained how Symbiotic Aquaponic systems are a great asset to any operation, whether commercially, residentially, or for research.
“The systems, right now, we have in K through 12 schools, we have them with Native American tribes, we have got commercial farmers, and also research in Division 1 universities,” Smallwood said.
The systems are easy to operate, Smallwood said, as they are all hooked up to a self-backwashing filter.
“We will sell the systems to Native American tribes, commercial farmers, schools, and research institutions, and then we will sell them a subscription as well for our automated services so they can have access to that advanced programming and pay us a monthly fee to access that,” Smallwood said.
By using these systems, Smallwood said a positive impact can be seen on yields.
“Since we are able to tailor the hardware, the software side of things to the biological nature of aquaponics, we are able to get tremendous results,” Smallwood said. “We are talking near-perfect germination rates, and we are talking the ability to grow crops faster. Coupling that with a climate-controlled environment lets the production possibilities go through the roof.”
To learn more about Symbiotic Aquaponic, CLICK HERE. You can also email Kaben Smallwood at info@symbioticaquaponic.com
