Hello! I was curious about frog farming, and started googling. One interesting observation I realised in my search was that there surprisingly little on frog farming, details regarding what the frogs are fed and the practices involved to grow them is mysteriously missing from superficial searches online. This is especially noteworthy due to the notion that frog farming has long been pushed as very profitable and simple, so one would expect more information on how to go about this business.
I believe that despite all the advice to start frog farming (not only because it is profitable, but also because it supposedly puts less pressure on wild caught frogs), it has not become a booming industry because in reality, many frog farms likely failed. From the same article, frog farming did not take off in the 1930s in America despite it being strongly marketed, and from anecdotal recounts, many new frog farmers are unable to rear saleable frogs efficiently.
Based on my research, many of these difficulties come from the practices of the farm itself. Because the threat of the frog stock declining from disease is very high due to the diseases being highly contagious and fatal, sanitation of the farm becomes a major focus.
Usually, to improve hygiene in farms, the infrastructure becomes very built-up and technology-driven to provide a very sterile environment, like how urban farming makes use of controlled environments (which has many advantages!). Ironically, many successful frog farms are the complete opposite. Rather than using man-made infrastructure, using more naturalised ponds is more efficient and easier to maintain. For example, Leonard Slabaugh (a prominent frog farmer in Texas) and Jurong Frog Farm both make use of a slow trickle of water which mimics a stream to keep the frog ponds clean.
Having a pond that acts as its own small ecosystem is also useful as tadpoles feed on algae, so they can eat the natural algae that grows in the ponds. This can also prevent the biochemical oxygen demand of the pond from increasing too much from algae blooms.
To me, the only issue around having farms that center around “natural” systems is that there is the connotation that “wilder” farms are less sterile. How do we quantify “cleanliness” when these environments are inherently less controlled? It is also hard to find threats like pathogens in these farms before the effects show up in the frog stock itself.
Even with these disadvantages, from my readings on frog farming, I realised there are many different methods of farming that may be unconventional now, but can lead to more sustainable agricultural practices in the future. If we learn from the natural ecosystem, we can gain new insights on how to create a more circular food system.
Hi Anna
Thanks for the interesting read, I have never really thought about how frogs are farmed despite having eaten frog meat before :/
You mentioned in your article that the early frog farms did not do so well due to disease in the frog populations kept there, however in more recent times, people still kept them in relatively “natural” systems but to more success, I’m curious on why this is the case. Is it just due to better technology or maybe some other secrets of the industry that we might not know of. Also I am still wondering what do frogs in farms eat? 😀
Thanks again!
Mark
Hey Mark!
Really glad you asked these cos I was reading up about it too! I honestly can’t find much about frog farming currently, but based on this article (which seems to be from? 1978?) frog farmers just don’t like to share their secrets so they can keep their advantage to themselves. This more recent one says that frog farms now are actually…just fenced up wild areas with harvests only slightly more than that outside the boundary. From personal experience at Jurong Frog Farm, the technology doesn’t seem to be very high tech either, just concrete pools with flowing water! Maybe it really is just that they are more protected from pathogens and disease now due to where the farm is built, or maybe there’s antibiotics use I haven’t read about :0
In terms of food, I’ve read they are fed insects, crayfish, meat, tofu, and other protein rich food. Something interesting was that bullfrogs only eat live prey, so to fool them the food is swirled around in the pond!
Thanks for reading!
Anna
Hi Anna! Wow, such an interesting read!
Actually, I was wondering about one thing. In your post, you mentioned how the presence of pathogens are very hard to be identified. If one identified the presence of pathogens too late, how detrimental would it be to the whole farm ecosystem in the long run? Is it hard to clean the remnants of it too?
Hey Sherry!
I’m not sure of the specifics of how many frogs could be lost to disease in farms, but apparently many fungal infections that can affect amphibians are highly contagious! This says that it’s important to separate the infected frogs immediately, and according to veterinary advice one may need to apply medication and review their general husbandry, so there’s likely a need for a lot of changes to the farm!
Thanks for visiting (:
Anna
Hi Anna! Thank you for the insightful post. To be honest, the thought of frog farms do not cross my mind and I have never been to one!
Whenever my friends and I decide to go to a farm, we would think of the more common ones in Singapore such as goat farms to feed the goats or vegetables farm. I was wondering how should we attract more people to visit frog farms, such that more people are aware of these farms? Also, do you think there should be a need for more frog farms in Singapore?
Hope to hear from you soon!
Cheers,
Nicole
Hey Nicole!
So cool that you and your friends visit farms together! Sounds really fun. Currently, Jurong Frog Farm gives many public tours and they are quite present online (they have a blog, fb, instagram, and youtube channel!). I feel like the best way for people to learn more about frog farms is to go there themselves and be taught first hand! Schools should consider bringing their students there (some primary schools already do I think). Going to frog farms are important to reduce biophobia, especially as frogs are generally seen as being super gross lol.
I initially thought frogs had a very small market in Singapore, but after a very cursory look using Google Maps, I think there’s maybe 40~ places that sell frog legs to eat. This isn’t even including the places that sell frogs as pet food, or for scientific reasons (like for dissections). This hints there is good reason for more frog farms in Singapore, as there may be quite a large demand. Also, looking at the practices of Jurong Frog Farm, it does seem that they are highly sanitary and are unlikely to cause a spread in dangerous diseases (though there’s always a risk). So, if regulations in Singapore make sure frog farms are hygienic, I think frog farming in Singapore can grow!
Thanks for the questions!
Anna (: