Catfish Farming
Financial Model

Revenue Model

Your revenue comes from two primary sources: selling surplus juvenile fish and selling harvested, processed catfish. The model first calculates total juvenile production from your breeding stock, then subtracts losses and the fish you retain for your own grow-out cycles. The rest are sold at a per-unit price. The main revenue driver, though, is the harvested fish. We calculate the total weight of market-ready fish per cycle, apply your specified product mix (e.g., 40% whole fish, 30% fillets), and multiply by the price per kg for each product to get your total harvest revenue. This dual-stream approach provides a comprehensive catfish farming revenue forecast spreadsheet.

Hatchery Assumptions

Your hatchery is the engine of the operation, and its efficiency directly impacts your bottom line. In 2026, you start with 50 breeding females, each producing 10,000 offspring over two cycles. Here's the quick math: 50 females × 2 cycles × 10,000 offspring equals 1 million potential juveniles. After a 15% loss rate, you have 850,000 viable juveniles. You plan to retain 80% for your own production, leaving 170,000 to sell. At $0.75 each, that's an extra $127,500 in revenue in your first year, providing a helpful bit of early cash flow.

Production Assumptions

The grow-out phase is where you create the bulk of your value. In 2026, you'll stock the 680,000 juveniles you retained from the hatchery, plus an additional 10,000 purchased juveniles, for a total of 690,000 fish. With a 10% mortality rate during grow-out, you're left with 621,000 survivors. At an average harvest weight of 1.5 kg per fish, this single production cycle yields 931,500 kg of catfish. This total harvestable weight is the core input for your sales projections and profitability analysis.

End-Product Mix

Your product mix is a major lever for profitability. In 2026, out of your 931,500 kg harvest, you're allocating 40% to fresh whole dressed catfish and 30% to fresh fillets. This means you'll produce 372,600 kg of whole fish, generating over $2.6 million in revenue (at $7.00/kg). The higher-margin fresh fillets, at 279,450 kg, will bring in over $3.9 million (at $14.00/kg). Shifting your mix toward higher-value products like fillets, as planned in later years, is a key strategy for improving your overall profit margin.

Cost of Goods Sold

Your primary direct costs, or Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), are fish feed and processing supplies. In the first year, fish feed accounts for 10.0% of your total revenue, while processing supplies are 2.5%. These costs are modeled as a percentage of revenue, so they scale directly with your production volume. As your operation becomes more efficient over the years, the model projects these costs will decrease as a percentage of revenue, with feed dropping to 8.0% by 2035. This fish farm expenses calculator is critical for accurate fish farming profitability analysis.

Operating Expenses

Your operating expenses are a mix of fixed and variable costs. You have a steady fixed monthly overhead of $17,200, covering things like facility maintenance ($5,000), insurance ($3,500), and other administrative costs. On top of that, your Year 1 payroll is $475,000. Your main variable costs are packaging materials (3.0% of revenue) and sales & marketing (4.0% of revenue). Understanding this cost structure is essential for knowing how to create a catfish farming financial plan that can weather market fluctuations.

Financial Projections

The financial outlook is challenging at first but becomes very strong if you can manage the initial phase. You'll need to fund a peak cash deficit of $2.27 million by April 2027, driven by over $2.3 million in initial capital expenditures. But the business model is sound: you hit breakeven just one month later in May 2027 and fully pay back the initial investment within 24 months. The real story is the explosive growth in profitability, with EBITDA swinging from a $692k loss in Year 1 to a $5.0 million profit in Year 2 and reaching over $74 million by Year 10. Finance: your top priority is securing enough runway to get through the first 18 months.

Your catfish farm business plan is unique, so your financial model should be too. This template is 100% editable in Excel and Google Sheets, allowing you to easily adjust every assumption-from feed costs to harvest yields. This level of customization ensures the aquaculture financial projections accurately reflect your specific operational strategy, saving you from building a complex spreadsheet from scratch.

Tailor all revenue and cost drivers

Adjust hatchery and production cycles

Model different product mix scenarios

Update pricing based on market conditions

Gain a clear, long-term view of your farm's financial future with detailed five-year forecasts. This catfish farming financial model automatically generates your Profit and Loss statement, Cash Flow statement, and Balance Sheet. Having a multi-year outlook is critical for strategic planning, securing financing, and making informed decisions about expansion and capital allocation.

Integrated three-statement financial model

Monthly and annual financial summaries

Clear visibility into long-term profitability

Essential for any feasibility study for catfish aquaculture business

Understanding your fishery startup costs is the first step toward building a sustainable operation. This model provides a dedicated section to itemize all initial capital expenditures (CapEx), from tanks and filtration systems to processing equipment. It also helps you accurately forecast ongoing farm income and expenses, ensuring you have a realistic budget from day one.

Break down all initial capital requirements

Forecast fixed and variable operating costs

Calculate total funding needs accurately

Avoid common cash flow planning mistakes

How does your plan stack up against the competition? This aquaculture investment spreadsheet includes key industry benchmarks to help you validate your assumptions. By comparing your projected mortality rates, feed conversion ratios, and profit margins against established standards, you can build a more credible and defensible catfish farm business plan for investors and lenders.

Validate your key operational assumptions

Identify areas for potential improvement

Strengthen your pitch to investors

Set realistic performance targets

Work where you're most comfortable. This agricultural finance excel template is designed for full compatibility with both Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. This flexibility allows for easy collaboration with your team, accountants, or advisors, regardless of their preferred software. Share a link, and everyone can work from the same up-to-date financial plan in real time.

Use on any Mac or Windows device

Collaborate in real-time with Google Sheets

No need for specialized software

Maintain a single source of truth for your finances

Quickly grasp your farm's financial health with a pre-built, dynamic dashboard. It visualizes key performance indicators (KPIs) like revenue growth, gross profit margin, and cash flow trends through easy-to-read charts and graphs. This high-level summary is perfect for tracking progress and presenting the most important financial takeaways to stakeholders without getting lost in the details.

Visualize key financial metrics instantly

Track performance against your goals

Simplify complex data for presentations

Make faster, data-driven decisions

Present your financial projections with confidence using a professionally structured and formatted model. We designed this template to meet the rigorous standards of investors, banks, and stakeholders. It clearly outlines all assumptions, calculations, and financial statements, making it easy for them to follow your logic and understand the investment potential of your catfish farming venture.

Clean, professional, and easy-to-read layout

Covers all key metrics investors look for

Detailed assumptions to support your projections

Calculate return on investment for fish farm