cricket farm business plan

How to Start a Cricket Farm Business

By: Author Tony Martins Ajaero

Home » Business ideas » Agriculture Industry » Insect Farming

Do you want to start a cricket farm? If YES, here’s a complete guide to starting a cricket farm with NO money and no experience .

Gone are the days when you start only businesses that are appealing. These days, the farming business has become appealing because of the revenue it generates. If you are planning to start a business with less stress and high returns on investment, then the cricket farm business ticks all the right boxes. Raising cricket is one business that guarantees one constant profit.

The process of raising cricket is cheap and very comfortable. Another advantage of this business is that it can be done from the comfort of your home. There are several steps you need to take to start a cricket farm business and you have to be determined before you can succeed. This article will walk you through all the processes involved in the cricket farm business.

Steps to Starting a Cricket Farm

1. understand the industry.

The cricket farming business is a highly profitable one. Cricket is known to have more protein density per bite than beef. This is a relatively new industry but people are already getting more enlightened about its nutritional health benefits to humans.

Awareness is on-going to enlighten people on the fact that cricket is suitable for human consumption. A 100g of cricket contains 16-21 grams of protein. It is also widely enjoyed for its great taste and crispy feel. There is not much to talk about the cricket farm industry because it is just emerging, but in a couple of years it would boom.

2. Conduct Market Research and Feasibility Studies

• Demographics and Psychographics

The demographic and psychographic composition of those that need cricket is not limited or restricted to a specific group of people. The demand for cricket goes beyond any geographic boundary. Cricket is usually consumed by different culture which means the market is encompassing.

So, looking at defining the demographics of your cricket farming business, you need to make it all encompassing. It should include individuals, households, businesses, restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, food hubs, and grocery stores that rely on the supply of cricket.

3. Decide What Niche to Concentrate On

It is really vital that you know the area or areas that you want to channel more energy into. There is no specific niche area of specialization in the cricket farming business, although some cricket farmers could choose to delve into cricket packaging and processing instead of direct sale to the farm market without adding value to it.

So, if you are thinking of starting-up your cricket farming business, then you should clearly define your market in order to know how to supply your product to your customers.

The Level of Competition in the Industry

It doesn’t matter the industry you decide to pitch your tent in, you are definitely going to face competition. The same rule applies in the cricket farming business which is not an exemption to that fact.

The level of competition you will experience in the cricket farming industry depends on the capacity of the cricket farm you intend to set up. If you can include cricket processing and packaging successfully to the services you render in your cricket farming business, then it would help to reduce your level of competition. For instance, if you enjoy the monopoly of cricket processing and packaging in your area, you can successfully take control of the market in the nearer future before you start having competitions.

4. Know the Major Competitors in the Industry

Every industry has top brands; there will always be brands that are generally known by customers and the public than others. Most of these brands have been in the industry for a long time, and they are best known for their excellent products and services, and the achievements they have made in the industry over the years.

These are some of the leading cricket farms in the United States and around the world;

– Ohio’s edible cricket farm

– Tiny farms

– Coalo valley farms

– Aketta Cricket

Economic Analysis

When starting your cricket farm business, you have to get your economic analysis right if you really intend to start the business with the sole aim of generating profit. You need to know how you would grow and expand the business and start exporting processed and packaged cricket within your country and other countries of the world.

When putting together the economic analysis of your cricket farm business, you would need to examine some key factors such as access to cheap labor, access to the market, and good climatic condition.

At regular intervals, you would need to continue to review these key factors while running your cricket farm business. As a cricket farmer, you need to perfectly understand your competitive landscape if you want to maximize profits and be a leading cricket brand the industry.

5. Decide Whether to Buy a Franchise or Start from Scratch

The choice of business model to start with is not cast on stone. Basically, you should be guided by your business vision and mission statement. However, for the cricket farm business, it would be better to start from the scratch as you will find it difficult to get the franchise of a cricket farm to buy.

Besides, starting your cricket farm from the scratch is less stressful compared to most small scale businesses which would require more elaborate groundwork before starting the business.

All you need in a cricket farm is to get your business license, start-up capital, a good land in a good location suitable for cricket farming, and market your business by using marketing tools such as the social media (internet).

Note that most of the big and successful cricket farms we have in the industry today all started from the scratch and they were able to successfully build a solid business brand.

6. Know the Possible Threats and Challenges You Will Face

Every business has its own characteristic challenge. If you have decided to venture into the cricket farm business, one of the major challenges you would encounter is the presence of established cricket farms close to where you are operating from.

This can’t be stopped; one can only manage it by creating your own distinct and unique market. Also, shift your focus to individuals, household, small restaurants and hotels that may need a steady supply of cricket.

Some other likely threats and challenges to face in the starting your cricket farm business are global economic downturn which affects household spending, bad weather and natural disasters, unfavorable government policies and the arrival of a strong competitor within the same location. There is little you can do concerning these threats and challenges except for you to be optimistic about life and about things taking a positive shape for you.

7. Choose the Most Suitable Legal Entity (LLC, C Corp, S Corp)

For the cricket farm business, you have the option of choosing a sole proprietorship, a general partnership, or a limited liability Company (LLC).

The sole proprietorship option should have been the appropriate business structure for a start-up cricket farm business with moderate capital. But for obvious reasons, the limited liability Company is preferred.

If you have the intention of expanding your cricket farm business to reach everywhere in the United States and beyond, then a sole proprietor is not an option for you at all. General partnership or Limited Liability Company, LLC will be the ideal choice for you.

Setting up an LLC will help guide your business against personal liability. In such situation, you stand to lose only the money you have invested into the limited liability company. This is not so for general partnership and sole proprietorship. Limited liability Company have simpler and more flexible business operating structure as you don’t need a board of directors, holding shareholders meetings or other managerial formalities to run your cricket farm business successfully.

Here are some of the factors you would have to consider before choosing a legal entity for your cricket farm business; ease of transferability, limitation of personal liability, admission of new owners, taxes and investors’ expectation.

If you study the various legal entities critically, you will agree that Limited Liability Company is the most suitable for your cricket farm business.

8. Choose a Catchy Business Name from the ideas Below

Generally, when it comes to choosing a name for your business, you should be creative because the name you choose for your business will go a long way to create a perception to the public about your business. Typically, it is a norm for business owners to follow industry trend when naming their business.

Here are some catchy names that you can choose from when naming your cricket farm;

– Crunchy croak farms

– Tasty spice cricket farms

– Protein clad cricket farms

– Creepy spice cricket farm

– Fantastic cricket farm

9. Discuss With an Agent to Know the Best Insurance Policies for You

One cannot start-up a business in most countries in the world especially in the United States without having some basic insurance policies in place. Creating a budget which caters for insurance and also consulting an insurance broker to guide one in deciding on the best insurance policies for your cricket business is very important.

The following are the major basic insurance policy covers one needs to consider having when starting up your own cricket farm business in the united States of America;

• Liability insurance
• General insurance
• Farm Equipment and Auto Insurance
• Commercial Agribusiness Insurance
• Health insurance
• Business owner’s policy group insurance
• Workers compensation
• Overhead expense disability insurance
• Payment protection insurance

10. Protect your Intellectual Property With Trademark, Copyrights, Patents

When starting your cricket farm business, getting intellectual property protection/trademark is not necessarily needed in the setting up the business. The business can be run successfully without having any legal problem with anyone concerning the use of your company’s intellectual properties.

11. Get the Necessary Professional Certification

You don’t need any formal professional certification to run a cricket farm. But you need to consult an established cricket farm to learn about the rudiment of cricket farming and also learn from their experience. This would help you prepare well for any challenges that would come your way in the course of running the business.

12. Get the Necessary Legal Documents You Need to Operate

In the United States of America, every business owners must have proper documentation in place before starting a business.

To legally run your own cricket farming business in the United States, here are some basic legal documents which you are required to possess;

• Business Plan
• Business License
• Certificate of Incorporation
• Employment Agreement
• Assistant’s licenses for assistants
• Health inspection Certificate
• Employee’s Handbook
• Non-disclosure Agreement
• Business and liability insurance
• Tax Payer’s ID
• Farm Partnership Agreement
• Operating Agreement for LLCs
• Proof of ownership and vehicle license
• Fire certificate Appropriate
• Driver’s licenses for drivers

13. Raise the Needed Startup Capital

Every business needs a substantial amount of capital if one wants to become a regular supplier to places beyond one’s vicinity. The cricket farm business would require less capital to start-up because of the availability of its feed and other things needed to start-up this business.

In sourcing for start-up capital for your cricket farm business, the following are the options to be considered;

• Sell of shares to interested investors
• Raising money from personal savings and sale of personal stocks and
• Source for soft loans from your family members and your friends

14. Choose a Suitable Location for your Business

The cricket farm business is a type of business that can be started from home, once you get the necessary equipment for it. As regards marketing of your product, you need to consider accessibility when choosing a location for your business as most of your clients would like to visit your cricket farm.

15. Hire Employees for your Technical and Manpower Needs

When it has to do with starting up your cricket farm, you will need a large tank or container to house your crickets. Lay the container floor with vermiculite to enable your cricket walk freely. Also create holes in the container for ventilation and also cover it up with metal mosquito screen to prevent escape.

As regards the number of employees needed to kick start this business with, you would need to consider your financial outlay before making the decision. For large scale cricket farms, you would need the services of the following; Chief Operating Officer (you can take up this position), Farm Manager, Accountant, Field Employees, Sales and Marketing Executive, Cleaners and Security Guards. You would need a minimum of 5 to 10 key staff members to effectively run a standard medium scale cricket farming business.

The Service Delivery Process of the Business

When it comes to the service delivery process of a cricket farm, the process is not cumbersome, it is straight forward and simple, and as a matter of fact, a cricket farm can be run successfully with little or no supervision.

Basically, you need a large container or tank to place these crickets while you feed them till they are mature for the market. You are to feed them with premium dry cat food or specially made food for crickets. Feed till satiation to enable them get mature quickly for the market. Once the crickets are matured, they will be harvested and then sold off to buyers.

16. Write a Marketing Plan Packed With ideas & Strategies

As a cricket farmer, you would need to prove to everyone that you have what it takes to manage a cricket farm and also supply crickets in commercial quantities to various markets on a consistent basis.

So, if you have plans to start your own cricket farm business, you will be better served to first breed it in large quantity before supplying it to hotels or food processing and packaging companies. When drafting your marketing strategies and plans for your cricket farming business, make sure you create a compelling personal and company profile.

Apart from your qualifications and experience, it is also important to state in clear terms what you have been able to achieve as it relates to the cricket farm industry. This will boost your market opportunities when marketing your cricket.

Here are some of the platforms you can utilize to market your cricket and its produce;

• Introduce your business by sending your brochure and introductory letters to households, restaurants, hotels, food processing and packing companies that require a steady supply of cricket
• Promptly bidding for cricket supply contracts
• Launch your cricket farm with a party to capture the attention of residents near you
• Engage in roadshows in your location from time to time to sell your crickets
• Advertise your cricket farm in community-based newspapers, TV and radio stations
• List your business and products in local directories
• Promote your cricket business via the internet and social media
• Engage in sales and direct marketing
• Encourage the use of referrals
• Join local chambers of commerce and industry around you to market your products
• Engage the services of marketing executives to help you market your cricket directly

17. Develop Iron-clad Competitive Strategies to Help You Win

One of the competitive strategies to win your competitors is in how you sell your cricket. Pricing is one way to win your competitors in the market. Make sure your price is affordable and highly attractive compared with your competitors. One of the ways to reduce your price is by sourcing for start – up capital from sources that won’t burden you with high-interest rates.

Another competitive strategy that will enable you sell your cricket at competitive price is to cut operational cost to the barest minimum.

18. Brainstorm Possible Ways to Retain Clients & Customers

For any business to succeed, one needs to find ways to retain its customers. This is because your customers determine your overall success in the business. One easy way to increase customer retention while attracting new customers is by ensuring your customers get an excellent product and service from you.

Ensure that you satisfy your customers’ needs through excellent service delivery. With this, your customers will always remain loyal to your product. Statistics shows that one reason why customers’ turn to other competitors to get their products is when there is a reduction in the quality of service. Another reason is poor customer service.

If you can consistently improve on the quality of your service delivery, then it would be much easier to maintain loyal customers.

19. Develop Strategies to Boost Brand Awareness and Create a Corporate Identity

If you have a business but you don’t improve your brand awareness nor do you communicate your corporate identity to people, then you would have to accept however society views your business. Big organizations’ ability to spend substantial amount of money yearly is the main reason behind the increase in their brand awareness.

While starting a cricket farm, one must have the intention to expand the business beyond the city where it is situated in and turning it into a national and international brand. This can be achieved when one invests money on promotions and advertising. One can promote their business brand and corporate identity by using the social media (internet) as it a has huge impact on brand awareness.

Generally, the use of internet and other social media platforms to promote your brands is very important and effective since it is widely accessible globally. Sponsoring current community based programs and also advertising your business in magazines and newspapers is another major way of promoting your brand.

The following are the different platform to boost your brand and promote your business;

– By advertising on related newspapers, TV and radio stations

– Mouth publicity from your loyal customers to people

– Using the internet and social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Badoo, Google+ and other related platforms to promote your business

– Your brand banners and billboards should be erected at strategic location around your city

– Distributing fliers and handbills within targeted areas in your environment

– By calling up small businesses and international businesses to let them know about your brand and the product you offer

– Advertise your business on your official website and employ strategies to drive more people to your site

– All members of staff of your management must put on the branded shirt or cap at business hours and your official cars and delivery vans should be branded too

Related Posts:

• How to Start a Ladybug Farming Business
• 5 Best Types of Insects to Raise for Profit (Insect Farming)
• How to Grow Crickets for Profit in 6 Steps
• How to Start an Insect Farming Business
• How to Start a Butterfly Farming Business

Want to breed your own insects? Check out our YouTube Channel for video tutorials.

How many bugs does my pet need? Read our detailed guide to find out!

Which are the best feeder insects? Read our Nutritional Guide to find out!

Chicks, mice, rats? Find out why baby chicks are the best food for your snake.

How to start your own Cricket Farm

Posted by Critter Depot on November 02, 2023

Table of Contents

Introduction to cricket farming.

Cricket farming refers to the cultivation of crickets for their use as food for human consumption, as well as feed for pets and livestock. This alternative protein source has gained popularity due to its low environmental footprint and high nutritional value. For entrepreneurs and homesteaders alike, crickets offer a profitable and sustainable option.

Low Initial Investment and Operating Costs

One of the most attractive economic benefits of raising crickets is the relatively low startup and operating costs. Crickets require minimal space, can thrive in simple containers, and their diet consists of inexpensive, often upcycled food scraps. This makes entering the market easier compared to traditional livestock farming. For those buying crickets to start their colony, there is a wealth of resources and suppliers available crickets online, simplifying the process of getting started.

High Growth and Reproduction Rates

Crickets have a rapid growth cycle, reaching maturity in about six to eight weeks. Their prolific breeding means that a small initial investment can quickly turn into a large producing colony. This quick turnaround not only ensures a faster return on investment but also allows producers to quickly scale up their operations in response to demand.

Sustainable and Eco-Friendly

In an age where sustainability is not just valued but expected, cricket farming shines. Crickets produce significantly fewer greenhouse gases than traditional livestock, require vastly less water, and can be farmed vertically, minimizing land use. The economic benefit here is twofold: lower costs for the farmer and a marketing edge for consumers who prioritize environmental friendliness.

Nutritional Powerhouses Attracting Diverse Markets

Crickets are rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals, making them an excellent food source. This has led to a diverse market where crickets are sold whole, as flour, or as ingredients in protein bars and snacks. Entrepreneurs who buy crickets to process and sell are tapping into the health food industry, pet food market, and even the culinary scene, with some restaurants featuring crickets on their menus.

Profitability from Byproducts

In addition to the crickets themselves, their byproducts have economic value. Cricket frass (manure) is an organic fertilizer rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Selling this byproduct can provide an additional revenue stream for cricket farmers, adding to the overall profitability of the operation.

Access to Online Marketplaces

The rise of e-commerce has significantly benefited the cricket farming industry. Selling crickets online reduces the need for physical storefronts, cuts down on marketing costs, and provides access to a wider customer base. Online platforms also offer the convenience of easy price comparisons for those buying crickets, ensuring competitive pricing and transparency.

Minimal Waste and Long Shelf Life

Crickets, when processed, have a long shelf life, reducing the waste associated with spoilage. This is economically advantageous as it allows producers to minimize losses and ensures that consumers buying crickets receive a fresh product. The minimal waste also aligns with sustainable practices, further enhancing the appeal to eco-conscious buyers.

Conclusion: Hopping into a Prosperous Future

The economic benefits of raising crickets are clear. From the low barrier to entry and high growth potential to the sustainability factor and diverse markets, cricket farming presents a unique opportunity for both business-oriented individuals and those seeking a personal venture in self-sufficiency.

As the world continues to shift towards sustainable practices, the demand for alternative protein sources like crickets is expected to grow. Buying crickets and investing in crickets online is not just a step into the future of food production; it's a leap towards a more profitable, sustainable, and nutritionally rich way of life. Whether as a primary business or a side hustle, the economics of cricket farming are too beneficial to ignore.

By embracing this trend, you can join the ranks of forward-thinking entrepreneurs and eco-conscious consumers driving the market for crickets. The potential is vast, and the market is just waiting for new players to jump in. Are you ready to take the leap?

• Tags: can i sell crickets for money , how to start a cricket farm , is cricket farming profitable

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Cricket Farming: The Ultimate DIY Guide

A complete guide to cricket farming including a detailed tutorial, a checklist and lots of "pro tips" that can raise your income and improve your health..

Today, I’m going to show you exactly, how you can start raising crickets for food, feed and profit on a small scale.

In fact, you can start making a serious profit!

The current price tag of live crickets which lays between 15-60$ (sometimes even more) per 1000 crickets.

And, I should point something out.

This article is about SMALL SCALE (DIY) cricket farming, for animals and for yourself .

This means, it's NOT an adequate guide if you want to make a COMMERCIAL (BIG SCALE) insect farm.

Although it can help you understand some basics, if your planning on creating a legitimate business selling crickets, this guide is not for you.

Keep in mind that this is a non-technical guide.

If you’re like me and you want to have a new profitable hobby, you’ll love the step-by-step instructions in this guide.

Let’s start.

Chapter #1: Why would you breed crickets?

Chapter #2: Which edible cricket species should I raise?

Chapter #3: How to build your own DIY cricket farm? Step-by-step guide + Shopping list

Chapter #4: How to raise more crickets with less feed - hacking the conversion rate

Chapter #5: Where can I sell crickets?

Chapter #6: Common pitfalls when starting out

Chapter #1: Why would you raise Crickets? ‍

To sum-up, there are several reasons why you should start raising Crickets:

• If you’re having pets, breeding your own crickets can save you a lot of money
• You can make some bucks on the side selling insects for feed and bait
• Almost no financial risk - you can get started with under 200$
• They are delicious, healthy and sustainable

As weird as it sounds, crickets are tasty, healthy and more sustainable than sheep, beef or pork.

With this method, you can grow lots of crickets for yourself.

Depending on the species of crickets, fresh crickets contain around 20 percent of protein.  Whereas, dried crickets can contain up to 69g of protein !

What’s more, crickets and locusts contain more than 50% less calories than beef.

Crickets, contain about 25-30% fats including high amounts of hearth-healthy omega-3s. Besides that, they contain monounsaturated fats and saturated fats.

The spectrum of fats might be affected by the foods that crickets are eating.

Many would argue that edible insects are going to become one of the main protein sources of the future.

In fact, a forecast done by meticulous research indicates that the global edible insect market is growing by 23.8% annually.

A quarter of the world’s population is already eating insects on a regular basis.

Considering all the benefits, we, the westerners should really consider joining the bug-mania.

You can inspire or shock people by creating healthy foods that you never dreamed of eating.

In case you’d like to eat crickets yourself, there is plenty of delicious recipes that will help you get started. ‍

For feed and bait

As you can imagine, crickets are not only good for humans, your animals can enjoy eating insects too!

You can invite your favorite turtle for romantic candle dinner with live crickets on a bed of leaves.

Joke aside...

As you know proteins are nutrients we can’t live without (essential). They are building blocks for body tissue and they can also serve as a fuel source.

The same applies to animals.

Which animals eat insects?

You can feed the following animals with crickets:

• Birds - It is recommended to increase the birds protein intake when they molt
• Reptiles - they love eating insects
• Fish - Crickets are used both for bait, as well as fish feed
• Some mammals- over 450 mammal species eat bugs including cats and dogs

Purchasing crickets for feed is quite inexpensive… Yet, it’s way cheaper to grow your own and it’s almost effortless. ‍

No matter if you’re planning on making a small DIY farm, ordering a desktop hive or making a commercial scale farm, there is money to be made.

If you’re an innovative entrepreneur or you're looking for a way to increase your monthly income , Insect farming is a way to go.

In fact, you can even create a business/start-up selling insects, but keep in mind, it ISN'T as simple as buying a few plastic containers and a heating unit.

Building a commercial scale farm takes a lot of effort.

On the other hand, building a mini-cricket farm will cost you under 200$!

And, it can generate a good side income on a monthly basis.

Once you establish a small customer base and optimize your farming process, you can scale up your production.

More about this in chapter #3 where I’ll teach you how to build a DIY insect farm on a budget.

There are several markets that you can penetrate. In chapter #6, I’ll show you where you can start selling crickets.

Bottom line:

You can grow crickets for yourself to improve your health and well-being or, with some effort, you can make it a profession/small side income. ‍

The most common cricket species are banded crickets (Gryllodes sigillatus), house crickets (Acheta domestica) and black field crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus) and Jamaican field cricket (Gryllus assimilis ).

Click here to find out more about the legal status regarding human consumption, of crickets, in your country.

How do crickets taste?

It all comes down to the species, the feed and environment where the crickets were raised.

In general, crickets have a nutty and savory taste .

In Crickster, i tried all of them except the Jamaican field crickets.

My personal favorite is the house cricket followed by banded crickets.

Their taste is quite similar. I would describe the taste as a combination of mushrooms, parmigiano and nuts.

They are very tasty and they are an amazing ingredient for all kinds of dishes.

The Jamaican field cricket has been on my bucket list for a while. Apparently, it is very popular in Thailand.

It all comes down to your personal preference. If you ask me, I would recommend the house cricket because of the taste.

As aside note, from all the above mentioned species, the house crickets are also the most susceptible to disease.

Now, the most exciting part.

Chapter #3: How to build your own DIY cricket farm?

Building a mini cricket farm is really easy .

All you need is a couple of items and a few hours of time, and your all set.

Before you start, ask yourself the following questions:

Do you want to grow crickets for yourself, for profit or both?

If you’re planning on building a small cricket farm for your pet or yourself, you’re lucky.

Crickets don’t need much to be happy.

All they need is a little bit of food, water and a small shelter with the right temperature and humidity.

If you want to make a few extra-bucks selling insects, buy bigger containers and a stronger lamp.

The shopping list

To start your farm, you’ll need the following:

• Live crickets
• Two very small food containers with lids
• Two medium size food containers with lids
• Two domestic storage bins with lids
• A Lamp with a 150w bulb (serving as a heating unit)
• A small thermometer
• A clean cloth or sponge
• A roll of aluminum window screening
• Egg cartons for the crickets to hide
• Coconut fibers, vermiculite or perlit
• Organic fruits, vegetables and leafy greens
• Hot glue or duct tape

To make it easier for you, I created a shopping list that contains all the things you’ll need for 200$.

Note that I didn't include hot glue and egg cartons. I assume you have those items at home.

Now, let’s get started.

Step-by-step building instructions

Step #1 — make sure you have everything you need.

Make sure you got everything from the list above.

Got everything?

Good, head over to step #2

Step #2 — Make a window with aluminum screening on the big breeding container

Take the lid off of the big plastic bin and cut of half of the lid. Glue the aluminum window screening on top.

Place a few egg cartons inside for the crickets to hide.

Step #3 — Make a big window on the smaller egg-laying container

Take the small container and cut out a big hole as shown on the illustration above.

Use hot glue to attach the window screening on the lid.

Step #4 — Install a light unit to keep the insects warm

Place the lamp on top of the container and make sure the temperature in the container is anywhere between 85°-90° F (29.4 -32.2°C).

Avoid temperatures above 95° (35°C)  and below 80° F (26.7 °C).

Step #5 — Make sure the you get the humidity levels right

Humidity is the second most important environmental factor.

The containers should have the following levels of relative humidity:

• The breeding container (big) - Less than 50%
• The rearing container (medium) - 80-90%
• The egg-laying (small) container should have close to 100%

Step #6 — Provide enough food and water for your crickets

Reduce cannibalism by providing enough food and water at all times. Make sure their diet is diverse and they get enough protein.

Soak up a clean piece of cloth and put it on a plastic lid.

Change the cloth every 2-3 days to avoid microorganisms such as bacteria or fungi.

You can feed your crickets veggies, fruits, leafy greens, meat leftovers etc. The more diverse their diet is, the better results you’ll get.

More on that later, where we will teach you how to skyrocket your cricket yield.

Step #7 — Keep it clean

Clean the container once per week. To do so, move your whole set-up to the second plastic bin, clean the container and dry everything.

Step #8 — Make sure your colony has enough male and female crickets

Make sure you have both males and females when starting out. If you look at crickets, you’ll soon notice that the male and female crickets are very different.

The females have a small needle-like extension (overpositer) at the back which they use to lay eggs.

Step #9 — Prepare your egg laying container

Prepare your egg laying container.

To do that, put some coco fibers in the small size food container and put the lid on top.

The screening will protect the new hatched babies from adult crickets. And it will allow the female cricket to lay eggs through the mesh.

Crickets lay their eggs in a humid environment.

Make sure you spray water on the coco-fibers whenever the surface gets dry (once a day or so).

Step #10 — Prepare your rearing container

After about a week or two, your crickets will start hatching.

Place the egg-laying container in the rearing container and take the lid partially off. This will prevent the container from losing water, and it will allow the newborns to get out of their container to feed.

Step #11 — Harvest your crickets

To harvest the crickets, place both plastic bins next to each other and move as many crickets as you need to the other bin.

The easiest way is to lift the egg cartons where the crickets normally will attach themselves and then just shake them of in the other container.

P.S Keep in mind, crickets can and will jump. We recommend getting a helping hand when harvesting crickets to catch the escapees.

If you're farming crickets for yourself, make sure to bake or boil crickets to reduce bacteria count. The recommended boiling time is 10 minutes .

Chapter #4 How to raise more crickets with less feed - hacking the conversion rate

If you're serious about cricket farming, read on.

In this chapter, you’ll learn how to skyrocket your cricket yield using lab-based methods that you can recreate at home.

In 2015. a team of researchers led by Collavo, decided to test four different diets for their lab-crickets to measure the effectiveness of converting feed into meat (cricket-meat).

It turns out, using the below mentioned human waste to feed crickets is very efficient. And the results were better than with any other diet they tested.

As a downside, baking the food requires energy and it makes the production less sustainable .

Cricket diet

From the diets tested, the crickets thrived the most on the so-called human refuse diet, which consists of food leftovers.

More precisely, the diet consisted of the following:

• Fruits and vegetables (peel and leftover) 3,4 g
• Rice and pasta 2,7 g
• Pork and beef meat 1,1 g
• Bread 1,1 g
• Cheese skins 1,1 g

Besides that, you can also feed your crickets: soybean flour, lucerne (Medicago sativa), corn flour (Zea mays), wheat flour (Triticum durum), yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) , sugar beet, silo, fresh fruits and veggies (organic) etc.

As a side note, the taste as well as the nutritional composition of edible insects depends a lot on what they eat.

If you’re raising crickets for food, keep experimenting with the feed to improve taste.

You can even add some organic spices to get extraordinary results ;) But be careful because some spices can serve as insecticides and they could kill your crickets.

If you think that you can use your cricket farm as a trash bin for food, it’s not that easy. There is some work involved. ‍

You can also bake the feed

Once your decided what you want to feed your crickets with, it’s time to grind everything and bake it on 90°C until the food is completely dry. This will help you prevent rotting and optimize hygienic conditions.

Give your crickets a diverse diet with lots of protein and they will grow big and strong.

If you’re serious about your new hobby, get yourself a journal, a precision scale and a few plastic containers. Write down what did you feed your crickets with and place the batches in separate containers. Later, you’ll be able to arrange a taste comparison which will help you in choosing the perfect feed.

Congratulations, you learned how to farm crickets!

Now it’s time to sell them.

Chapter #5: Where can I sell crickets… can I make money with it?

In short, yes.

In fact, you can even make a living out of this hobby if you invest into better equipment, and you start a legitimate business.

If you know how to market your crickets and you manage to create a high quality product, you can do really good.

But, keep in mind that getting a business of the ground includes hard work.

If you find the right crowd, crickets are quite easy to sell. I’ll cover some methods and market places you can use to sell insects.

Start with Your network

If you’re farming crickets for feed, you can start selling crickets to your friends and family members that have pets.

But, if you’re raising crickets for food, make a dinner and some bug snacks for your friends and educate them about the benefits of eating crickets.

Although not everyone is open towards eating insects, some of your friends will be pretty excited about it.

You can start by asking local pet shops if they are interested in buying your crickets.

Pet shops are usually happy to hear that there’s a local cricket supplier. Especially if you can offer them a better price than your competitors.

You can also be like us, and sell crickets online. And there are several platforms you can use so sell your product.

Starting a webshop is probably the first thing that comes to your mind.

However, for this you’ll need to have a legitimate business. And you'll need to meet a lot of requirements.

Social media

No matter if you’re a business or a hobby insect breeder, an easy (and cheap) way to sell online is through is social media.

Make your own page, join groups and you’re good to go.

You can post anywhere at any time without paying a dime.

Look for local facebook groups about pets.

Make a post there and let the people know that you’re selling crickets for a good price.

Another almost free way to market your product is to start blogging about your new hobby.

Writing relevant content for your target audience is a great place to start.

For example, you can attract people to try bugs by writing about health benefits of edible crickets.

But, if you’re selling to pet owners or farmers, you might write something like: "Five ways to improve your chickens health." or "How to get your chicken to lay more eggs?" ...You got the point.

This process is very time consuming, but it can help you get a lot of free traffic to your site or web shop.

Craig’s List, and local yard sale pages

This is another great place to pitch your points and it doesn’t cost much.

And finally, Chapter #6: Common pitfalls when starting out

Learning from your mistakes is great. Learning from other people’s mistakes is better!

When starting out, there is plenty of mistakes you can make. We all learn and improve through trial and error.

But, an error could cost you a lot of time and money .

So, let’s try to keep the errors to a minimum.

In this chapter, we’re going to show you what are some common pitfalls and mistakes that people often make when starting out.

Pitfall #1. Drowning crickets and wrong relative humidity levels

It’s easy to drown your crickets in too much water. Especially the newly hatched ones.

The best way to avoid drowning is to use either a water pad, a cloth or water crystals . This way, you’ll make sure they get enough water, not too much.

What's more, measure the humidity levels in the containers. High humidity levels can kill your crickets.

Pitfall #2. Fungus and rotting

Since the environment is quite humid, it’s easy to develop a fungus inside your container. It can even kill your whole colony!

To avoid fungus and rotting , make sure you use dry feed and veggies with low water activity like carrots, beets and zucchini.

Also, avoid spraying water outside the breeding container, and make sure to clean everything once a week .

And also, change the substrate in the breeding container once in a while.

The used substrate contains a lot of nutrients from cricket eggs and dead crickets. You can use the by-product for planting herbs and restoring balance in the soil!

Pitfall #3 Wrong temperature

As mentioned in chapter#3, it’s important to keep your mini-livestock on the right temperature.

Since seasons change, remember to check and re-adjust your heating unit.

If it’s too hot, move it further away, or use a weaker heat bulb.

If it’s too cold, the other way around…

Pitfall #4 Having all the crickets in the same container

Crickets are cannibals. Use a mesh to protect the new hatchlings from the adults.

Pitfall #5 Diseases

Diseases are hard to study, and there is not much information about it.

They can happen, and they can kill your colony. If you’re having lots of crickets, get more than two containers.

If some crickets get affected by a disease, you’ll still have other colonies that will stay alive.

Pitfall #6 Insecticides will kill your… insects

Insecticides keep plants bug-free. Give your crickets organic food to make sure they don’t get poisoned.

Let's wrap up

Small scale cricket farming is simple , it doesn't take much effort and it can bring in a lot of money.

In this guide, I summed up the most important information, and I tried to make it as easy as possible for you.

Now it's up to you.

You can use these methods to start your own tiny farm.

And also, head over to the comment section below and let me know if the guide was helpful.

Write down what you'd like to know more about and I'll give you a heads up.

If you have your own crickets, share your setup with the community and help us make this guide better ;)

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Cricket Farming: 7 Effortless Steps to Raise Crickets for Profit/Food

If you buy an item via links on this page, we may earn a commission. Our editorial content is not influenced by commissions. Read the full disclosure .

Do you know healthy it is to eat bugs? To be a little more specific, crickets are super healthy for you.

I understand it can be considered quite “taboo” to eat crickets in a lot of areas, and I’m not really sure even I could bring myself to begin serving them on my dinner table.

But it has made me realize that if they are healthy for me, then they may also be healthy for my animals. And they are really easy to raise and require virtually no space to do it.

Therefore, leading me to want to explore the idea of cricket farming, which is what I’m going to share with you.

So if you’ve never considered the idea of being a cricket farmer, after reading this post, you might change your mind.

What is Cricket Farming?

Cricket farming is a method where you can raise crickets. You can raise them outdoors if you have a setting for them that you can keep warm enough.

However, if not, you can always raise them discretely indoors as well because they require such small amounts of space.

Why Would You Raise Crickets?

You might be wondering why you would even raise crickets to begin with. There are actually lots of reasons to raise crickets. They are:

1. For Yourself

If you can get past the idea of eating a cricket, you might be surprised to learn just how good they actually are for your health. Crickets contain a ton of protein without a lot of fat or calories.

Actually, they contain more protein per bite (per density) than beef or chicken can provide per bite. For example, in a 100-gram cricket there is 16-21 grams of protein.

Also, there is only 5 grams of fat and 121 calories per 100 grams of crickets. Beef can contain up to 300 calories per 100 grams. Not to mention, the fat that crickets have is actually the good kind that will not raise your cholesterol.

So if you are becoming more health conscious and would like a healthier protein option, then you might want to seriously consider adding crickets to your diet.

2. For Your Birds

As much protein as crickets can provide for you, they can provide the exact same amount to your chickens. We discussed in this article how important protein can be to chickens in molt.

Well, crickets can be an inexpensive way to up their protein intake and ultimately help the health of your flock.

So keep cricket farming in mind when looking for low budget ways to feed your poultry .

3. For Bait

Crickets are often used as bait when fishing. If you are a fisherman, then you might want to raise your own bait.

Considering how inexpensive raising crickets can be, it could potentially save you a good amount of money in the long run.

Not to mention, you’ll never have to worry about stopping by and picking up bait before you can fish. You’ll just have to remember to take it with you before you head out the door. Convenience is a good thing in this instance.

4. For Reptiles

Reptiles love crickets. If you are an owner of reptiles, then you might want to consider raising their own high protein snacks for them.

Purchasing crickets are not super expensive, but they cost much less to raise. So taking advantage of a way to live more frugally and save yourself some money is usually a good idea.

5. For Money

If you are an entrepreneur or a homesteader that is looking for more ways to add a little extra cash to your wallet, then you might want to consider selling crickets. It is inexpensive to start this business and obviously has many different markets available to sell to.

So if you are looking for a new business to start, then you might want to really consider cricket farming.

How Do You Start a Cricket Farm?

via My Aquarium Club

The simplicity of cricket farming reminds me a lot of the simplicity of starting a worm farm . They require very little to get started and only a few steps need to be followed. Once you get things down pat, you should be ready to raise your own food (for yourself or animals) or ready to start a (hopefully) booming business. Here is how you raise crickets:

1. Get Their Home Ready

When deciding to raise crickets, you are in luck because they require very little to get started. You’ll need a 14-gallon bin that has high and smooth sides. You need the high sides to keep the crickets from being able to easily jump out of the bin.

However, if you have a bin with indentions in the side, the crickets can easily use them as a ladder to climb up on and then jump over the edges of the bin.

So be sure to choose your bin accordingly. You’ll also need a fresh water source for your crickets. This can be as simple as a shallow dish with water in it, or a water pad . Just be sure that the crickets won’t drown in the water.

Finally, make sure your bin is very well ventilated. If the crickets can’t breathe, they obviously won’t make it. So take that into consideration as well.

2. Buy the Crickets

After you have the crickets’ home all ready to go, you’ll need to purchase your crickets. They usually go for about a dime apiece.

So you’ll need about 500 crickets to get started. The key is to keep the crickets’ bin at a consistent 86 degrees Fahrenheit. You can buy your crickets here .

3. Feed the Crickets

Now that you have your crickets, and they are in their home, you’ll need to feed them. This is where it can get interesting depending upon their purpose.

If you are raising them for human consumption, then you’ll need to play around with this step a little bit. The reason is that crickets’ taste will vary depending what they eat.

So you’ll need to figure out what to feed them in order to give them the best flavor.

However, if you are raising them for consumption by animals, then you can feed them whatever ends up being the most cost-effective for you.

You’ll need to feed your crickets plants such as cucumbers, pumpkin plants, and other plant-based items.

3. Create a Maternity Area

Crickets lay eggs which mean you have to come up with an area for them to lay their eggs. This is as simple as filling a small tray with top soil. You’ll then need to place the tray inside the bin.

You’ll need to spray the tray daily with water to keep it moist and desirable for the crickets to lay their eggs in. When you begin seeing things within the soil that look like tiny grains of rice sticking up, then you’ll know that your crickets have laid their eggs.

After you begin to see this, you’ll need to remove the tray and prepare for the next step.

4. Incubate the Eggs

Cricket eggs have to be incubated. They need a warm climate with around a 90% humidity level. You could try using a regular incubator to do this or place the tray under a heat lamp or on a heating pad to provide the warmth.

In my opinion, I would think an incubator would be the easiest route so you could control the humidity levels. They’ll need to remain incubated until they hatch within 7-10 days from the start of incubation.

However, be sure that you are spraying the soil in the tray daily during incubation. This is important to make sure that the crickets hatch.

5. Raise the Babies

Once your baby crickets have hatched, you will need to have a separate area to raise them until they grow large enough to be integrated with the other crickets on the farm.

Also, you’ll need to feed the baby crickets large amounts of protein while they are at this stage. You can feed them things like small bites of tofu and chicken to give them the protein they need.

They’ll spend about a month in the ‘cricket baby center’ growing and maturing.

6. Add Them Back to the Cycle

Once the first month has passed and the baby crickets have gained enough size to be integrated with the other crickets, you can switch them over.

Then in a few weeks after integration, they’ll be ready for breeding and joining the cycle of the cricket farm.

When you get this whole process down to a science, you’ll have crickets rotating regularly, and your cricket farm will begin to grow.

Is There Money to be Made?

via cnn.com

In a short answer, yes. You can definitely start a cricket farming business and do well with it (like in most any business) if you know how to market correctly and raise a quality product.

My suggestions for those that are looking to raise crickets is to remember that birthing a business takes a lot of time and a lot of effort.

Also, begin by advertising locally. You can pitch your points on sites like Facebook, Craig’s List, and local yard sale pages. If you are selling them from the approach of good health, you might want to consider speaking to some people that are in the holistic field because they might be able to put you in touch with clients in that market.

It is also a good idea to speak with local pet stores and with local bait shops. If you are investing larger amounts of means into cricket farming and want to be considered on a national scale, then you might want to speak to pet shops about being the chain’s supplier for the entire region.

Finally, consider setting up an online store. That way people who want to purchase crickets to start their own cricket farm or just want the convenience of ordering crickets can do it online. Be sure that you are comfortable with shipping live creatures before making this jump as you don’t want dead crickets arriving at the customer’s doorstep.

Well, there you have it. You are now in ‘the know’ about cricket farming. Crickets may not be everyone’s thing, but I think it is awesome to gain knowledge and know how to grow more food for your animals on a smaller scale.

And if you decide to start consuming the crickets yourself, then that’s great as well.

But now I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter. Do you raise crickets? Do your animals like them? Do you or have you ever eaten crickets? If so, what health benefits have you gained from it, and how do you prepare them?

We love hearing from you so leave us your comments below.

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How to make money with a cricket farm.

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Cricket farming is already a thriving business in Asia, Africa, and South and Central America. In those areas of the world, people raising crickets are earning an average $5-10,000 net. And that’s in areas where the average gross income is under $6,000.

People and businesses have been breeding crickets as food for chickens, reptiles and fish for 70 years. Right now, the insect farming market is growing by more than 20% annually.

The insect farming business is shifting to expanding its niche in the human food markets. They are packed with protein for their size.

According to the North American Coalition for Insect Agriculture (NACIA), crickets as human food are high protein and can be prepared by cooking or by being ground into flour. The flour becomes a high protein ingredient in various food such as tortilla chips and protein bars.

Robert Nathan Allen is a board member for NACIA and the founder of Little Herds. Those are valuable organizations for anyone who wants to raise crickets, especially for human consumption. Their goal is to help people get past any aversion to eating insects.

What is Cricket Farming?

Simply put, a cricket farm raises them for sale. The most common end use is as live animal feed . They can be fed to chickens, other birds, fish and various reptiles.

The size of a farm can range from 1,000 to hundreds of thousands. There are about a dozen large-scale cricket farms in the US. Some of those have been in operation for three generations.

How do Cricket Farms Make Money?

Cricket Farms make money by raising crickets and selling them. They can sell them live or frozen.

Crickets that are headed for processing in the human food industry are harvested by freezing. Those that are used in the pet industry are sold live. That’s because the majority of the pets that are fed crickets won’t eat dead ones.

The initial outlay to get started would be spending from $15-60 per 1,000 to get started. The lifespan is only 8-10 weeks. During that time, the females lay from 1-200 eggs.

As you can see, you are quickly into bigger numbers. If half of your starter group are females (500), you could have 50,000 plus crickets hatch from their eggs. You keep enough to have another generation and sell the rest.

Live Animal Feed: The Most Popular Feeder Insects

Crickets are truly low-budget critters to raise. The biggest challenge is proper management of heat and humidity.

If all you want to do is feed insects to your personal chicken flock, you’ll save money.

If you find a core group of customers, such as pet owners or pet shops, you’ll make money.

As insects for live animals, crickets are in greater demand than grasshoppers and ants.

Crickets for Humans: A Low Impact Source of Protein

Crickets are described as having a “nutty or earthy” flavor. In the human food industry, after they die and are frozen, they are regulated as a frozen food product. There are requirements for labeling and packaging.

Nutritional Benefits

Crickets are not just an alternative protein source; they are a nutritional powerhouse. Rich in essential amino acids, crickets contain a balance of healthy fats, including omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and are a great source of vitamins like B12 and minerals like iron and zinc.

This nutritional profile makes them an excellent choice for various dietary needs, including for those seeking high-protein, low-carbohydrate options.

Culinary Uses

Incorporating crickets into human diets extends beyond cricket flour. Globally, crickets are consumed in various forms: roasted and seasoned as a snack, incorporated into dishes for added crunch and nutrition, or used as a protein-packed topping for salads and soups.

Their versatile flavor profile, often described as nutty, allows for creative culinary uses, from protein-packed smoothies to baked goods, showcasing the potential of crickets as a mainstream food ingredient.

Eco Friendly

Crickets as a food source are highly eco-friendly, primarily due to their minimal waste production and efficient use of space. Compared to traditional livestock like cattle and swine, crickets require significantly less land and water to raise. They are capable of converting feed into protein more efficiently, reducing the need for vast agricultural resources. This efficiency makes cricket farming a more sustainable option, especially in areas where land and water resources are scarce.

Cricket Flour

Flour is the most thriving part of the crickets for the human food industry. According to studies, 100 grams of the product (more powdery than regular flour), has two times as much protein as 100 grams of steak. 100 grams of cricket flour has 21 grams of protein.

It’s pricey, compared to standard flours, at $35 per pound.

Anglers use crickets as bait for catching fish.

Crickets sold as food for pets are usually sold at about 3 weeks old. At that age, there are small enough to be eaten by small reptiles, even small lizards.

When they are more than 5 weeks old, their exoskeletons become tougher and coarser. That’s when they’re prime for anglers because the outer skeleton is stout enough to hold a hook.

But that’s when some pet outlets won’t take them because they’re too big for smaller reptiles.

Selling Live Crickets

Crickets are priced by age and size. When they’re 10 days old they’re about 1/8 inch long, and that’s when the demand for them begins.

The easiest way to sell crickets is by local pickup and delivery. If you ship, they can’t be in transit as a rule for more than two days. And they must be kept warm.

Selling live crickets involves more than just finding buyers; it requires careful consideration of how to present and deliver your product to maintain its quality and appeal.

Whether you’re targeting pet owners, fishermen, or other markets, ensuring your crickets reach the customers in good condition is key. Let’s delve into the best practices for packaging and shipping live crickets to ensure they arrive healthy and ready for their intended use.

Packaging and Shipping Best Practices

To ensure live crickets reach customers in good condition, proper packaging and temperature control are vital. Perforated containers or breathable mesh bags are commonly used for ventilation.

During colder months, heat packs may be necessary, whereas in warmer seasons, cool packs can help maintain optimal temperatures. Shipping should be expedited to minimize transit time, and careful labeling is essential to instruct handlers on the proper orientation and handling of the packages.

Building Customer Relationships

Regular communication and reliability are key to building lasting relationships with customers, particularly pet store owners or hobbyists. Offering consistent quality, timely delivery, and responsiveness to customer queries or feedback can foster trust and repeat business.

Providing care instructions or tips on cricket maintenance can also add value to your service, turning one-time buyers into loyal customers.

How Profitable is Cricket Farming?

Here’s an example:

• You purchase your starter crickets, paying $50 for 1,000.
• Half of those 1,000 are females. The 500 females each lay 100 eggs.
• If you successfully incubate half of those 50,000 eggs, you’ll be raising 25,000 crickets.
• You keep 5,000 crickets to raise another generation. You sell 20,000 crickets at $50 per 1,000.

The cost of equipment needed is low (see below). It costs little to feed crickets.

There are of course variables to these numbers. What if you don’t have an outlet to sell the crickets, you mess up the incubation process, or there are fluctuations in temperature and humidity, and your crickets die?

What Cricket Species Should I Invest In?

The best species is the banded cricket , Gryllodes sigillatus, which is also the most common type.

Another popular species is Acheta Domesticus , or house cricket. However, these house crickets can get a deadly virus, which can wipe out all the crickets.

How Much does it Cost to Start a Cricket Farm?

Starting a cricket farm may seem like a unique venture, but it is one that holds considerable potential, particularly given the rising popularity of insect protein and the use of crickets as pet food and fishing bait. Nevertheless, like any business startup, it involves costs. The overall cost can vary depending on the scale at which you decide to operate.

If you plan on starting with an initial stock of 1,000 crickets, your equipment costs are likely to amount to approximately $200. This estimation includes the necessary housing containers, heating equipment, food, and water dispensers. But remember, this is an estimated cost for a small-scale startup. As you scale up, these costs will increase proportionately. For instance, if you plan to start with 2,000 crickets, you could expect the equipment costs to double, roughly around $400.

However, large-scale farmers often recommend beginners to start small. Here are some reasons why:

• Market Uncertainty : Your biggest challenge is not necessarily raising the crickets, but rather having a ready market to sell them quickly. Depending on your location and customer base, demand may fluctuate, making it prudent to start on a smaller scale.
• Short Selling Window : The window of time for selling live crickets is typically quite narrow. Crickets are usually sold between 3 to 8 weeks old, meaning you have about a 5-week window to find a buyer for your product. After this point, their market value may decrease as they’re primarily sold as bait from 8 to 10 weeks old.
• Handling Complexity : Raising crickets may appear straightforward, but there can be complications. Maintaining the right temperature, ensuring appropriate feeding, and dealing with potential diseases all pose challenges. Starting small allows you to navigate these issues on a manageable scale before you consider expanding.
• Cost of Expansion : The cost of scaling up can escalate quickly. More crickets mean more containers, larger heating equipment, more food and water, and potentially more space. By starting small, you can gradually scale up as your profits increase, minimizing financial risks.

How to Start a DIY Cricket Farm on a Large Scale

Things you’ll need to raise crickets.

You’ll need a container to house the crickets . The most common size container is 14-gallons, which holds 500 crickets.

You’ll need a heat lamp to control the temperature, thermometers and humidity meters. Humidity meters can be purchased online or at pet shops.

The cost to start with 1,000 crickets is:

• 4 of the 14-gallon bins, or cricket tote. You’ll need one for each group of 500, plus an empty one for hatching. These can be purchased as any box store, at a cost of $5-10 each.
• 4 heat lamps, heat lamp replacement bulbs, 4 thermometers, 4 moisture meters. Approximately $200.

Creating the Cricket Home: How to Get Started

• Find a reputable supplier for your starter crickets. These suppliers are valuable sources of advice and information.
• Set up your bins. Buy the kind with a top. Cut out approximately half of the top, and cover that opening with screening. Glue or duct tape the screening to the lid. Also create a ventilation hold on each side, also covered with screening.
• Provide a layer of bedding. Most use vermiculite. Vermiculite will also help with odor control. Lay it in about 1-2 inches deep.
• Temperature control. Make sure to maintain the temperature at 85-90 F. Keep humidity levels at about 50%. If you see condensation on the sides of the containers, the humidity level is too high.
• Feed your crickets. Supply cricket food such as bread, cornmeal and bran in their diet.

Buying the Crickets

Crickets begin to breed when they are about 4 or 5 weeks old. You’ll want starter crickets that are young, to make sure they’ll breed.

Most suppliers will not rely on the USPS for timely delivery with ground shipping. To ensure the crickets arrive healthy and warm, your options are overnight or second-day air.

You can purchase from:

• Josh’s Frog
• Basset’s Cricket Ranch
• BuyFeederCrickets

Telling the Difference: Make Sure there are Enough Female Crickets

Fortunately, it is easy to tell the females from the males. The female has an extension from the rear part of its body. The extension looks like a needle. That’s what they use to lay their eggs.

Feeding: What do Crickets Eat?

Crickets need a lot of water but can drown in water. That’s why water is provided using a wet sponge or cloth, or in a shallow dish.

In their diet, the insects will eat plant-based items, such as cucumbers, squash, and carrots. They’ll eat corn or bran meal, or grainy bread.

When they’re newly hatched, it’s good to add protein to the diet such as tofu. That’s because the young crickets need protein as they build their exoskeleton.

Building the Maternity Area: The Importance of an area for Crickets to Lay Eggs

Fill a shallow tray with topsoil. Spray the soil with water daily to keep it moist.

The breeding and the egg-laying period lasts about two weeks. Once the females lay their eggs, you’ll see things that look like tiny grains of rice.

Move the shallow tray to another bin, where you’ll incubate them.

Incubating the Eggs

Humidity and temperature are of utmost importance. For incubation, the humidity level should be from 90 to 100 percent. Spray the soil in the tray daily.

The crickets should hatch from 7 to 10 days. They are hatched fully formed, but tiny.

Raising the Baby Crickets

The humidity can be a little lower, from 80 to 90 percent.

The baby crickets can eat what the adults eat. But you should add a protein source such as tofu as they grow, and their exoskeletons develop. They also like the egg cartons for shelter.

Do not let any adult crickets inside the raising area. Bigger crickets will cannibalize little crickets. Also, be vigilant against spiders.

Harvesting the Crickets

If the crickets are to be used for human food, they can be harvested from 6 to 10 weeks.

Since they are very susceptible to variations in temperature, you can remove the heat source. The crickets will quickly succumb to that change and can be easily gathered. They can be counted into freezer bags and frozen.

Starting the Cycle Again

To restart the cycle, keep some of the crickets you raise. How many you keep depends on the growth of your business and predicted sales markets.

Where to Sell Crickets

One huge consideration about where to sell crickets is how to deliver the crickets. If your business is local, you can arrange for customer pick up or delivery. You might also look into how to sell at a farmers market .

If you’re going to ship crickets, you’ll need to take special cautions to make sure the crickets stay warm enough in transit.

On An E-Commerce Site

You can set up an online store and sell your crickets that way. Craig’s list is a popular source, and you can provide our email address there. You can also promote your business using a newsletter or blog. Using a newsletter or blog keeps your customers up to date about your business and helps spread the word.

Selling Crickets on Social Media

You can set up a FB page to promote your sales. If you get established with a pet store, you can ask them to add a link to your page on their home page.

You can also ask your source for the starter crickets to provide a link. This can be helpful to all because it can help with shorter times for regular ground delivery.

Selling to Pet Stores as Animal Feed

Need more inspiration to raise crickets? Here’s an example to show you just how many they may need:

Bearded dragons grow very fast when they’re young. A bearded dragon from 1 to 3 months old needs 450 crickets a week. They must be small, about 1/8 inch long, and are fed at 25-60 at a time, three times a day.

When the bearded dragon is 3 to 9 months old, they eat 40-65 medium ones, two times a day. After 9 months old, the bearded dragon will eat 50-70 medium-size per week.

The bearded dragon needs to eat while it’s offered for sale in the pet store. And it needs to eat when someone buys it. The pet store owner replaces the sold bearded dragon with another one.

And just like that, the cricket demand has doubled.

Selling Crickets as Pets

Many people like the sound of a cricket, and they are thought to bring luck to a home.

For that reason, they can be sold along with a small cage and instructions about food and water. The caveat is that the cricket life span is only about ten weeks.

Pros of Cricket Farming

• Small space needed to raise
• Little financial outlay to get started
• Sustainable
• Rich in protein
• Less demand on land and water resources

Cons of Cricket Farming

• Temperature and humidity requirements are specific. If you make a mistake, you can wipe out hundreds or thousands.
• As human food. they can trigger allergic reactions, which are most likely in people who are allergic to crustaceans such as shrimp and lobster.
• In large numbers, they are very noisy. Extremely noisy. Try to set up in the spare room of your condo, and your neighbors will not be pleased.
• In large numbers, they have an odor. One way to combat this is to keep the bedding clean. Don’t reuse it for successive groups.

Things to Avoid

• Keep adult populations separate from the newly-hatched.
• Be careful about providing water. They can drown in a water dish.
• If you’re feeding leftovers, such as squash or carrots, don’t give them any food that you have spiced. Eating food that has been spiced can kill them.
• If you feed leftovers, watch carefully for rotting. Remove any leftovers that are rotting or have fungus.
• Watch for signs of spiders, such as webs.

The Bottom Line

Cricket farming presents a viable long-term business opportunity, especially as global trends lean towards sustainable and alternative protein sources.

With growing environmental and health consciousness, cricket farming is positioned to expand, offering entrepreneurs a chance to tap into an emerging market with significant growth potential.

Cricket farming has a lower environmental footprint compared to traditional livestock, requiring less water, feed, and space. This makes it a sustainable choice, contributing positively to environmental conservation efforts.

Additionally, cricket farms can bolster local economies, providing new business opportunities and potentially creating jobs in the agricultural sector.

How long does it take for cricket eggs to hatch?

Cricket eggs will hatch is 7 to 10 days.

How long does it take to grow crickets?

They only live for 10 weeks. They are sold at as young as 3 weeks when they are about 1/8 inch long.

How do you keep crickets alive?

They have simple needs for food and water. The most critical part of their care is making sure temperature and humidity levels are correct.

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Cricket Farming

How to start a cricket farm tutorial 1.

How to Start a Cricket Farm: For decades, people have been raising crickets both commercially and at home, as a feed for their pets, particularly for their reptiles. Crickets are protein-rich and nutritious. Many reptile owners choose to raise crickets themselves because it can be expensive and rather time consuming to go back and forth to the pet store. More recently people in the US have been raising crickets as feed for human consumption. Just as crickets are nutritious for pets, they carry the same great nutrition for us. But the recent growth in cricket eating in the US has been driven more by the realization that crickets leave a small environmental footprint much smaller than the most commonly eaten proteins.

This is the reason why craftcrickets.com started in 2016, Zoe Anton – Vice-President, Austin Miller – Chief Cricket Guy, Dennis Stansbury – Advisor.

Like a lot of recent cricket farm start-ups, motivated by a 2013 report by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization about the future of food security , that more or less stated that insects were the food of the future. The report talked about how our current agricultural practices will not be able to sustain a growing world, especially as we grow to 9 billion people in 2050. We need new ways to farm, and the UN report highlighted that eating insects could be an important part of the solution. They are a great source of protein and can be produced using a fraction of the resources of traditional protein sources such as beef or pork.

What are the Reasons for Raising Crickets?

There are lots of environmental and nutritional benefits of raising crickets

Environmental Benefits

1. land use.

Over half the world’s habitable land is used for agriculture. 77% of that is used for raising livestock.

In the UN report, it stated that to raise a kilogram of beef protein you need 200 square meters of land. To raise one kilogram of chicken protein you need 45 square meters of land. But to raise one kilogram of insect protein you need just 15 square meters of land. This is three times less than chicken and 13 times less than beef.

2. Crickets Require Less Feed Resources

According to the UN, you need to feed a cow about 23 kilograms of feed to produce just one kilogram of live weight. For insects, the UN suggests that you need to feed insects about 2 kilograms of feed to produce one kilogram of live weight.

This number is so much lower because insects are cold blood. When they eat, they are not using a bunch of the food’s energy just to make their body warm, instead, a high percentage of that food goes directly to building their body mass and to building protein.

This UN number, 2 kg of food to create 1 kg of live cricket weight is obtainable. When we feed our crickets a diet heavy in protein-rich grains, we can achieve this two-to-one ratio. if we elect to feed them more food weighs say 30% fruit vegetables that we salvaged from going to the landfill this ratio increases to highest four to one which is still much better than the ratio for beef and it is at par with chicken.

3. Crickets Require Less Water

A similar comparison can also be made with water. UN report suggests that there’s a very large difference between the ratio required to produce a kilogram of cricket protein versus to raise a kilogram of beef protein. They don’t have the specifics in the report but they suggest that the number could be as many times as thousand times more superior for crickets.

4. Crickets Produce Less Greenhouse Gases

You’ve probably heard that the average cow release bunch of methane just through farting.

This is actually one of the major contributors to greenhouse gases. Crickets produce practically zero greenhouse gases. If you care about the environment, crickets make a huge difference.

The beef industry has been around for generations. They have received billions of research and government subsidies. Just imagine, how much we could improve these figures for crickets which are already at par better than chickens.

Nutritional Benefits

There are also large nutritional benefits. 16 grams of protein is produced per ounce of crickets and a bunch of iron and fibers.

Economics of Cricket Farming

Before you start farming crickets, you need to take some considerations, specifically when it comes to economics. The economics of cricket farming varies greatly whether you plan to raise cricket simply for your own personal use or if you plan to raise them at a commercial level.

Small Scale Cricket Farming

Let’s say you’re raising cricket small-scale for your own personal use. If you have some spare space in your garage or your basement or even in a toolshed, you’ll probably have enough space to have two or three 30 gallon totes. You can find these plastic totes at any retailer. With this space, you should be able to maintain a population of about ten thousand crickets and of those ten thousand crickets you could probably harvest about a thousand a week.

How Much Does Small Scale Cricket Farming Costs You?

Initial setup cost.

You can find Plastic Totes at any retailer for about $25.There are other materials that you need but if you’re doing it small-scale you can probably just look around your house and find a lot of these things that you aren’t using and that you can put to your backyard cricket farm for free.

Maintenance Cost

After you spend this initial cost there is going to be regular maintenance cost that you’re gonna have to incur just to produce crickets.

• Food Cost: First, there’s the food, you can give some food scraps to your crickets. You’ll need some specialty feed just to ensure that the crickets get enough protein because if they don’t get enough protein, they unfortunately, will cannibalize each other. You can get bags of organic high protein feed for about sixty cents per pound. On average 30 gallon totes of crickets will eat a little bit less than a pound of food a week. When they’re young, they’re going to be eating a lot less than that. So that means if you’re running two or three bins, you shouldn’t be spending any more than two dollars at a maximum per week on food.
• Electricity Cost: Crickets like it warm, around 80s. If you live in a warm climate, where it’s already the 80s then you probably don’t need to worry about any additional electricity cost. If you live in a cooler place, you’ll need to find a way to heat part of your residence a little bit warmer. You can do that with a heat lamp or a heating pad. It will incur some expense.
• Your Time: Other Cost you need to consider which does have monetary implications is your time. If done correctly you shouldn’t need to invest more than five minutes a day on average to your critics. However, if you don’t have five minutes to spare you probably shouldn’t raise crickets. Remember these are live animals that need attention. If you travel often, there are strategies to keep your crickets happy and healthy while you’re away but it may be best not to have crickets. Left neglected, the crickets will escape, they will create odors, they will die, they will cause a nuisance, and it’s a nuisance you can avoid with just a few minutes a day. Even with proper care, it’s inevitable that some of your crickets will escape and their chirpy may keep you up at night. So expect some trips, expect some escapees and you should also expect some odors. If farm correctly, there’ll be very minimal odors but there still will be some, even if that odour is just the odour of the food that the crickets eat.

Starter Crickets Cost

For the initial investment of $25 plus maybe one to two dollars per week you should be able to harvest about a thousand crickets a week. If you’re raising crickets just for your reptile this is probably a great financial deal for you. There’s no way you’re going to need more than a thousand cricket a week. The pet store probably charges you ten to $20 at least for that amount of crickets. So this is definitely a good option here. If your plan is to eat them yourself, a thousand crickets would give you about 50 grams of protein, equivalent to two hamburgers or eight eggs, probably two meals worth of protein that you’d be replacing. So for a couple of bucks a week, to get two meals worth of protein, I think it’s a good deal. In other words, if you have space, you have the time and don’t mind the occasional escape cricket, it makes sense to raise crickets on a small scale.

Large scale or Commercial Cricket Farming

If you plan on selling crickets commercially, you required raising crickets on a larger scale. It makes sense to raise crickets on a small scale when you have space and you’re already heating your residence, but you don’t have space to raise a ton of crickets in your house. So if you’re doing so commercially you need to consider some additional cost.

If you’re gonna race crickets commercially, you’re gonna need a lot of space. On the low end you need a two to three thousand square feet on the high end you need over ten thousand square feet. You could probably estimate to pay 1 to 4 thousand dollars a month for the rent. Aside from the rent of your warehouse, you’ll need to have space in a commercial kitchen to process your crickets if you plan on processing them. You can expect to pay probably $20 an hour just to use a kitchen. You have to pay for extra utilities, equipments and insurance at least $1,000 if you’re a small food producer and that number can just go up quite drastically depending on how many crickets you’re planning on producing. If you’re becoming a business, you’re gonna need to pay for different licensing, Taxes.

Most importantly you need to consider wages. If you want to get into farming, you need to make sure you are making enough money to pay for yourself and to provide a good wage to people who are helping you up.

I always saw these cost largely just to give you an idea of some of the costs you will incur in future videos we’ll go in more detail about the financial models associated frick environments so I just listed this list but don’t get discouraged that’s not my point of it.

Even with all these costs, cricket farming can be highly profitable but you just need to be large enough to overcome these fixed costs. As with most businesses the larger you get, the more efficient you should become. Which will bring down all your costs. But beware, if you get more efficient and produce a bunch of crickets, you need to make sure that there’s a demand to buy those extra crickets. When you start a commercial farm, think about: How you want to sell them?. Do you plan on selling them wholesale? If so, expect to get anywhere from $5 a pound to $20 a pound for your crickets. If that’s not enough to overcome your fixed cost then you should consider selling direct to consumer. That way you can raise more money per pound of crickets. In other words, if you want to raise crickets commercially, make sure you can achieve the demand required to cover your cost.

Raising crickets can be done easily and in a matter which creates quality protein with a much smaller environmental footprint than other traditional protein sources. This is why we want more people farming crickets and more people eating them forever. On a small scale, people can raise enough crickets to replace one or two meals a week at a cost of just a few bucks a week. If you want to succeed commercially, cricket farms are to get rich quick scheme. They’re like any other business where you need to ensure that you have enough demand to sell enough previous to generate positive cash flow.

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Everything to Know About Cricket Farming

Jeffery Jago is a expert in horticulture and worm breeding. With a background in plant cultivation, Jamie’s innovative techniques have transformed gardens nationwide. A pioneer in vermiculture, Jamie has advanced sustainable worm farming practices, promoting soil health and organic farming. As an educator, author, and speaker, Jamie continues to share insights, making significant contributions to sustainable horticulture. Email me or Txt: 1-604-243-9257

Last Updated on May 4, 2021 by Jeffery Jago

Crickets are an excellent form of animal feed, and they also happen to be a popular food source in many parts of the world. Farming crickets can also bring in a solid income which makes being a cricket farmer very profitable work. In this article, we will discuss how you can start your own cricket farm so that you can reap all the benefits!

First of all, What is cricket farming exactly?

Cricket farming, or raising crickets on a farm for food and animal feed.

For the most part, it involves breeding these insects to be harvested at just the right time when they are full-grown and ready to lay eggs so that their population can grow over time.

There is a long history to cricket farming and it is often practiced in the most impoverished and remote areas of the world. But more and more it’s finding popularity in North America and the rest of the world.

So why would YOU personally want to start a cricket farm? Well, here are a few good reasons.

As an animal feed

If you’ve got chickens or reptiles or birds, Crickets make a great sustainable food source. They are high in protein and add a lot of variety to the animals’ diets.

Crickets can be ground up or crumbled with dry dog food, cereal, fruits and vegetables for a nutrient-rich mix that your pets will love! (If you’re interested in this option) and depending on what animals you intend to feed.

For human consumption, crickets can be turned into a variety of delicious snacks, and you can even bake with them by grinding them into protein flour. Many bodybuilders swear by it.

So not only is it good for your pets, but it also saves you a lot of money when buying ordinary animal feed (which is always a plus!).

So if you’ve got reptiles, chickens, or birds and you’re thinking about starting a cricket farm, this is something to think about.

For fishing bait

A farm might be slightly overkilling if all you are doing is fishing with them, However, it never hurts to have too much bait after all. So in that respect, Farming crickets are a great way to have an overabundance of fishing bait.

Commercial cricket farming

You can make a lot of money from cricket farming. The market is there for it and people are willing to pay because the demand is so high. I dare you to go to Amazon or Etsy and look for all the homegrown delicious snacks that cricket farmers make and sell online.

Then go ahead and take a look at the unit sold history and the price point for each product. You will start to get an idea of just how valuable crickets are. There is a lot of money to be made in this underdeveloped industry.

So if you are an entrepreneur, or even just someone who wants to make a little extra money on the side, you should start looking into cricket farming.

For your own human consumption.

Crickets are a great way to diversify your food. They’re not just for people who can’t eat gluten or dairy products, because they provide an excellent source of protein without the excess fat and calories than red meat provides. This makes them perfect for anyone on the Paleo diet, which is popular these days with all the health blogs promoting it.

Per 100 grams of cricket, it contains about 20 grams of protein, which is a great amount for those who want to get their recommended intake.

Crickets have not been genetically modified (assuming you personally haven’t genetically modified them)

This means that they’re healthy and good for you in ways that other meats are not. They also have the added bonus of being free from antibiotics and hormones, so there’s no risk of getting sick by eating them!

Ok, you’re convinced, right? So what now, How do you start a cricket farm?

Step 1: Get their enclosure ready

This means that you will need to set up a place for them. The enclosure should be somewhere warm, where there’s plenty of fresh air and sunshine all day long – not in your basement!

In general, you will need a 14-gallon bin, some egg cartons, or other similar cardboard enclosures. You want high sides so your crickets can’t escape or climb out. A tip for that is to add a bit of baby powder to the sides of the bin which will prevent them from being able to climb up.

A cricket’s water dish should be shallow so they can’t drown. An optimal setup is a small bowl or plate with a sponge that crickets can stand on top of and drink out of. The cricket sponge is also a good indicator of water contamination and should be changed out every 2 days.

Most importantly, Make sure the bin is well ventilated.

Step 2: Buying your first set of crickets

Once you have everything set up, it is time to buy some crickets. You can find them online or at local pet stores like Petco or Petsmart, but it’s much better to get in touch with another breeder you can trust. Crickets are usually sold by the pound with prices starting around $0.99 per pound (more expensive) online.

Prices will of course vary by your location. Some may be much more expensive (10 cents per cricket) for example.

Since your just getting started, you will need about 500 crickets to feed your farm.

So, you would need about $50 worth of crickets if they were sold at a rate of 12 cricket per pound.

It’s best to contact someone from an online forum or another breeder for specifics on prices in your area too! Always haggle.

Step 3: Feeding the crickets

Buy the Cricket Feed from your cricket breeder or pet store. Depending on what you’re using your crickets for, their feed can change wildly. Crickets taste like what they eat, so it’s important we choose the correct feed. This is especially true if they are going to be used for human consumption.

There are specialty breeder foods you can order online for feeding human consumption crickets. If you’re just using them for livestock and pets, Then any normal cricket feed should do just fine.

Don’t forget to feed them the occasional fresh vegetables, such as:

• Cauliflower

Lettuce. Crickets can eat up to 50% of their diet in vegetables, so it’s important that they get a well-rounded diet for good health and growth. A balanced diet is crucial for animals’ overall fitness and production rates as it provides them with the nutrients they need to grow healthy and strong. If you’re going to be raising crickets from eggs, then feed them egg mix until they reach adulthood where you’ll switch over to adult cricket food.

Step 4: The hatchery trey

Crickets don’t give live birth, They simply ley eggs. For them to do this, they require a thin layer of topsoil in the “hatchery trey”. This can be as simple as the top of a coffee can lid. As long as they are able to get in and out, It should be fine. Here, newly-laid eggs will stay until they hatch. Remember to mist it with water once a day to keep it at a desirable moisture level for the eggs and for the crickets who want to ley their eggs there.

Once you start seeing enough eggs sticking out of the dirt (they appear to be little grains of rice), it’s time to move the entire tray into the egg incubation setup.

Step 5: Egg incubation

Cricket eggs need 90% humidity to hatch. That means a relatively warm temperature. This is most easily done in a separate container from the other crickets.

There are a couple of ways to achieve this, you could use an actual incubator which might be more expensive Or a simple heat lamp. You can also use a heating pad in a container with an inch or two of water in the bottom.

I recommend using some kind of heating pad if you’re just starting out because it’s cheap and easy to replace as needed but do make sure that your egg incubation setup is completely closed off from any other crickets so they don’t end up trying to lay eggs in there.

At this point, you will continue to spray the eggs at least once a day with water. It will take about 7-10 days for them to hatch into baby crickets.

Step 6: Be mama to the babies

One of the major problems with cricket farming is how we need to split up each stage of their life cycle into their own separate containers. Adults in the adult container, eggs in the egg container, and babies- you guessed it!

The baby crickets will need food about twice a day. If they are mostly eating legumes or other vegetables then that’s great but if not I recommend supplementing with some kind of pet food like a cat or dog chow mixed into their diet to ensure they’re getting all their essential nutrients from proper sources. You’ll also want to make sure your water is changed every few days so we don’t have any icky moldy stuff growing inside.

It’s important to give them something soft for them to burrow under too because this provides protection from “predators” (safe feeling cricket is a happy cricket) as well as regulating temperature and humidity levels. The humidity levels can be brought down to the same as adult crickets.

Wow, that was easy, wasn’t it? Once you get it down pat you will have a continuous supply of cricket proteins to do with whatever you wish. Including making some cold hard cash.

Speaking of, Just out of curiosity, What kind of cash can you make with a cricket farm?

The average is about $1500 per month but there are people making anywhere between $1000-$3000 per month and some even more than that. So really anything is possible here–even earning over six figures annually as many farmers do. There definitely seems to be a lot of potentials when we look at all the available mediums we can use to sell our crickets.

An example i gave earlier was etsy. I see cricket snack products all the time on etsy and they go for ridiculous prices. Sometimes a small snack bag of baked and seasoned whole crickets can go for as much as 40$ to some posh Etsy buyers.

So we can easily see the monthly average price ceiling can go quite high.

Pet stores are also often willing to buy crickets from local farmers because they get to say they sourced them locally. It’s often cheaper for them to do so as well. So be sure to try and contact all your local pet stores and feed stores and offer them your services.

In conclusion:

Cricket farming is a great way to get into the agricultural business and also provide yourself with an animal feed, for making money, and its health benefits. There are many other ways you can make money from your cricket farm as well depending on how much time you have available but these are the three main ones. Cricket farms can be started very easily by anyone who has access to some land or even just their backyard. The only things that need to happen first before starting one is getting the enclosure ready, buying crickets (for both food and breeding), feeding them properly so they grow quickly enough without dying of starvation or overcrowding in our enclosures, breeding them when they reach reproductive age which will differ between species but usually around two months.

Related posts:

• What Do Crickets Eat
• How To Get Rid Of Crickets
• How Long Do Crickets Live Indoors
• How to Keep Your Feeder Crickets Alive Longer

Exploring the Profit Potential: Everything You Need to Know About Starting a Cricket Farm Business

With the recent surge in global demand for alternative protein sources, starting a cricket farm business is one option that savvy entrepreneurs are seriously considering. Many experts believe that edible insects like crickets are the future of sustainable farming and health nutrition. This article provides key insights into exploring the potential profitability of starting a cricket farm business and the necessary steps involved.

In recent years, the world has started to look at alternative ways of feeding an ever-growing population while maintaining sustainable practices. This is where crickets come into play. These insects are not only protein-rich, but their harvest has been found to be less damaging to the environment than conventional livestock farming, and the resources needed for their cultivation are minimal.

Hence, starting a cricket farm business is an opportunity well worth considering. It may appear unconventional, but several entrepreneurs globally have found success in this niche. Crickets are increasingly used in the production of high-protein snacks, pet food, and even gourmet dishes.

Understanding the Market Demand:

The first step in starting a cricket farm business is to understand the market demand. Crickets are primarily used in two markets – human consumption and animal feed. As per the statistics, North America alone is expected to represent a $54 million market for edible insects by 2023.

The adoption of a high-protein, low-fat diet is increasing, and consumers are continuously looking for sustainable and ethical practices in food production. This is where crickets come in, with their nutritious and environmentally friendly benefits becoming more appreciated.

Furthermore, cricket meal and protein powders have also gained popularity in fitness and health circles. The pet food industry is another area where crickets are commonly used, especially as feed for reptiles and birds, enhancing the potential profitability of starting a cricket farm business.

Business Planning and Investment:

Starting a cricket farm business is cost-effective compared to conventional livestock farming. The investment needed primarily consists of housing and heating for the cricket, their food costs, and depending on the size you wish to operate, potential staff costs.

The best way to proceed is to draft a business plan, outlining the investment needed, potential income, and operating expenses. It is also advisable to consider the commercial regulations and requirements in your region concerning raising crickets for commercial sale.

Selecting The Right Cricket Species:

The choice of cricket species significantly affects the success of a cricket farming business. Cricket species predominantly used in commercial breeding include the House cricket, Banded cricket, and Tropical house cricket.

Each species has its specific requirements for optimal growth, including specific temperatures, diet, and humidity levels; hence, your choice should be based on what is most suitable for your business model and operating climate.

Housing and Farming:

Crickets require a warm environment for their growth. Therefore, you must consider heating costs while drafting your business plan. Crickets can be kept in bins, crates or specially designed modular rearing units depending on the scale of the operation.

The cricket farming process involves raising crickets from eggs until they are adult, a process that typically takes around six weeks. It’s essential to maintain cleanliness in the farm as crickets can be prone to diseases, and an outbreak can wipe out your entire population.

Packaging and Marketing:

Once the crickets have been raised to full size, they can be harvested, dried, and processed for packaging. Your packaging should be appealing and should effectively communicate the nutritional and environmental benefits of eating crickets.

Marketing is a big part of starting a cricket farm business. You should employ types of digital marketing strategies to effectively reach your target audience.

To summarize, starting a cricket farm business is a promising and profitable business venture. It’s a market that’s ripe for growth, and the demand for edible insects is expected to surge in the near future. Given the relative affordability of starting a cricket farm business and the increasing acceptance of insects as food, now may be the perfect time to venture into this business. While it has its challenges, it’s certainly a fascinating route for those passionate about sustainable and innovative farming practices.

Cricket farming: An emerging business that could become the future of food

A few years ago, a former Finance Minister in Kenya suggested that Kenyans diversify their eating habits by eating insects, rats, and roots as a way to fight food insecurity and malnutrition. This sparked a heated debate among Kenyans.

But a group of farmers in Bondo (Kenya) has been actively involved in cricket farming for nearly four years now. These farmers prefer crickets to crops because they’re easier and faster to produce.

Selling a kilogram of crickets at $5, these farmers supply a major hotel in Kisumu, and also export the crickets to neighbouring Uganda and — wait for it — the United States.

Crickets are very nutritious; they’re rich in proteins, zinc, iron, copper, calcium and low on calories. They are abundant and readily available and do not cause any harm to the body when consumed.

Apart from its high nutritional value and capacity to reduce manultrition and food insecurity, crickets can be made into a wide range of cuisines, especially: crushed cricket biscuits, cricket samosas, cricket fried rice, cookies and cricket fritters. The cricket biscuits and cookies are made by a mixture of flour with crushed dried crickets through a mortar with a pestle.

A recent Food and Agriculture Organization report revealed that people consume more than 1,900 insect species, globally with the most common edible species being beetles at 31 percent, caterpillars at 18 percent, bees, wasps and ants at 14 percent. Following these are grasshoppers, locusts and crickets (13 percent).

Read the full article at: Africa.com

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• Everything that the Basic plan includes plus this plan specializes in scaling up, efficiency and optimization, employee and hiring management, business evaluation, grant writing assistance and more.

Professional Membership

• Everything in the Basic and Growth plans plus extensive regulatory support and more. This plan is for organizations scaling up to true industrial scale production and for those looking to get their products certified to supply major corporate buyers.

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Big Cricket Solutions has its humble beginnings in Big Cricket Farms. We know what you're going through because we've been there too. We're farmers dedicated to helping more farmers not just survive, but thrive.

Don't take our word for it. See for yourself. Big Cricket Solutions & Big Cricket Farms have been in the Media since 2014 talking about edible insects and our farm and striving to grow this industry to its full potential.

Chirpbox in the News!!! Edmonton City News: Alberta’s First Cricket Farm

Edmonton City News July 19, 2019 Would you eat crickets? What if they are ground up in a cookie or chips? Camola Farm believes they are Alberta’s first cricket farm for human consumption, and see the bugs as a big step to a more sustainable future.   

TedX Talk – Youngstown 2015

Preparing raw crickets.

Crickets should only be purchased from reliable sources; crickets raised for bait or pet food may have higher levels of pathogens or traces of heavy metals from their feedstock. Crickets should be treated much in the same manner as any other raw food, particularly shellfish. It’s best to keep crickets fresh as possible – so …

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Launch of cricket farm business plan template

Do you want to start a cricket business from scratch? Or do you need a sample business plan template for a cricket farm? then I advise you to keep reading.

If you have an animal and you are feeding it cricket suddenly became a Herculean task because you have to go to the pet store every now and then to buy a cricket then you would agree with me that sometimes it can be a tedious task. . However, the truth is that there are some people who are pretty darn good connoisseurs who prefer to grow their own crickets. Growing a cricket is a viable business that always guarantees a profit.

If the idea of ​​developing your own cricket colony sounds strange to you, you might be interested to know that there are people out there who do it regularly and only tell success stories. Before we talk about how to start your own cricket farm, it is very important to know what a cricket farm is.

A cricket farm is just an idea for raising crickets from anywhere you want. This process is inexpensive and very convenient and can be done without even leaving your home. There are several steps you can take to start this process. However, you have to be determined and convinced that you really want to face it. If, on the contrary, you have made a decision, here are some tips to help you start building your own cricket.

Launch of a sample business plan for a cricket farm

One of the best things that can happen to anyone who wants to start a project is to do some research. Rest assured that your research is complete and thorough. This is so as not to forget how to start this cricket farm.

There is a wealth of information available on the Internet to help you with this task. One of the best resources to use on the Internet is Google. You will face an avalanche of information. You could also consider reading cricket books. Local libraries around you in your country can be a great choice.

2. Ask the experts

There are people who have lived in the cricket farm since time immemorial. These categories of people know all the time how to go about their business. It is for this reason that you must meet with them to ask questions. In fact, it would be nice if you took one of them as a mentor. Make sure you ask lots of questions and see for yourself. One of the advantages of this is that you can get first hand information about what a business is.

This step is somewhat related to the previous step regarding the expert interview. This is an important step because you cannot start a project that you don’t know anything about. Hence, you need to look for ways to get training from an expert. You may always have to go and see how things are done to find out more about the different steps involved in starting a cricket farm.

4. Buy large containers or a tank

One of the practical steps that you need to take to start this business is to buy containers or tanks. You will need it to contain and store your crickets. Some are designed for adult breeding, while others can be used to mature young adult crickets. You need to decide how many containers for which.

Also, make sure you have large enough containers, as failure to do so would result in a colony of crickets living in an enclosed space. One of the disastrous things that you wouldn’t want to do is make the mistake of buying a small container because crickets will eat each other when they don’t have enough room to roam.

One way to do this is to create holes in the container. However, you shouldn’t leave the holes you make like this. You would need to cover the holes that the holes created with metal screens to prevent any leaks. This is very important as crickets are always looking for crawling holes.

6. Laying of the container floor -: You will need to lay the floor of the vermiculite container. This is so important because it will allow them to walk. This process will keep the container dry and in turn prevent bacteria and reduce odors.

8 gather your colony

After making your purchase, you can collect your cricket colony and then use shredded dry cat food to feed the crickets. This is to make sure that you are feeding them well enough for your harvest to be important.

This is one of the most important steps you should be prepared to take. Make sure you tell everyone about your cricket business. This is because some people don’t mind waiting for your harvest to arrive. Tell people who have pets who may need to feed on crickets and who you want to wholesale and resell.

Here are the top tips to follow if you really want to have a successful business. Plus, make sure you keep researching the best ways to get what you do while staying on top of industry trends. You can be successful by not isolating yourself from the competitor, but by staying close.

Anna Cornet - Author

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Moscow International Business Center (Moscow City)

• Guide to Russia

What can you do at Moscow City?

• Dine in style: Moscow City is home to 100+ cafes and restaurants, including Europe’s highest restaurant and ice-cream shop
• See Moscow like never before: Ascend to one of Moscow City’s observation decks for an unparalleled panorama of Moscow
• Admire world-class architecture: Each of Moscow City’s skyscrapers has distinctive architecture and design
• Learn something new: Visit the Museum of High-Rise Architecture in Moscow or the Metro Museum

Moscow City is a multifunctional complex in the west of Moscow, which has come to represent the booming business of Russia’s capital. Its skyscrapers enrich Moscow’s skyline, contrasting the medieval cupolas and Stalinist high-rises. Visitors to Moscow City can enjoy entertainment high in the sky, as the complex is home not just to offices, but to restaurants, cinemas, viewing platforms, and museums.

Photo by Alex Zarubi on Unsplash

History of Moscow City

Moscow City was first conceived in 1991 by honoured Soviet architect Boris Tkhor, who proposed to construct a business center in Moscow. It would be complete with gleaming skyscrapers rivalling those of New York and London, to reflect the new life and growing ambitions of post-Soviet Russia.

The chosen site was a stone quarry and disused industrial zone in western Moscow, in between the Third Ring Road and Moskva River. Initially, the territory was divided into 20 sections arranged in a horseshoe shape around a central zone. The skyscrapers would increase in height as they spiralled around the central section, with shorter structures built on the waterfront to give the taller buildings behind a view of the river. 

Architect Gennady Sirota, who contributed to iconic projects such as the Olympic Sports Complex on Prospekt Mira, was selected as the chief architect, and many other world-famous architects were attracted to Moscow to realise their visions in Moscow City.

What can you see and do at Moscow City?

Where Moscow’s cityscape was once dominated by Stalin’s Seven Sisters skyscrapers , this is no more. Moscow City is home to eight of Russia’s ten tallest buildings, six of which exceed 300 metres in height. More buildings are still under construction there today, including the One Tower (which will be Europe’s second-tallest building). Once completed, Moscow City will comprise more than 20 innovative structures.

Each of Moscow City’s skyscrapers was designed by its own architect, lending the cluster of skyscrapers a unique appearance. Aside from being a site of architectural wonder, Moscow City is a place for leisure and entertainment with over 100 cafes and restaurants, exhibition spaces, cinemas, viewing platforms, and more.

Photo by Nikita Karimov on Unsplash

Federation Tower

• East Tower: 374m, 97 floors; West Tower: 243m, 63 floors
• Completed in 2017
• Architects: Sergey Tchoban and Peter Schweger

The East Federation Tower is the tallest building in Moscow, and the second-tallest building in Europe after the Lakhta Centre in St Petersburg. Visitors can enjoy a luxurious meal of seafood, truffles or steak at restaurant ‘Sixty’ on the 62nd floor of the West Tower, or visit Europe’s highest observation deck, ‘Panorama 360’, on the 89th floor of the East Tower.

Did you know? The ice cream and chocolate shop on the 360 observation deck are the highest in the world!

• South Tower: 354m, 85 floors; North Tower: 254m, 49 floors
• Completed in 2015
• Architect: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

The South OKO Tower is the third-tallest building in Russia and Europe. Here, you can visit ‘Ruski’ to dine on hearty Russian cuisine cooked on a real Russian stove, and have a drink in the ice bar. Alternatively, visit restaurant, nightclub and performance space ‘Birds’; the restaurant is the highest in Europe, situated on the 86th floor roof terrace alongside an observation deck. The OKO Towers are also home to karaoke club ‘City Voice’.

Did you know? Underneath OKO Towers is the largest underground parking in Europe, with 16 levels and 3,400 parking spaces.

Mercury Tower

• 339m tall, 75 floors
• Architects : Mikhail Posokhin, Frank Williams, Gennady Sirota

Another multifunctional skyscraper, which was designed as the first truly ‘green’ building in Moscow. The Mercury Tower has a distinct geometric shape and copper-coloured glazing, and was the tallest building in Europe upon completion. Visit ‘More i myaso’ (Sea and meat) on the first floor of the tower to enjoy European and Mediterranean cuisine whilst surrounded by greenery. On the 2nd and 40th floors a modern art gallery, the ‘ILONA-K artspace’, has just opened.

City of Capitals

• Moscow Tower: 302m, 76 floors; St Petersburg Tower: 257m, 65 floors
• Completed in 2009
• Architect: Bureau NBBJ

The unique geometric design of the City of Capitals towers resembles stacks of rotating blocks, and is rooted in Constructivism of the early Soviet period (many Soviet Constructivist buildings can be found in Moscow). Visitors to the Moscow Tower can enjoy a range of cuisines – traditional Italian dishes on the summer terrace of ‘Tutto Bene’, Panasian cuisine in the tropical luxury of the ‘Bamboo Bar’ on the 1st floor’, and poke or smoothie bowls at ‘Soul in the Bowl’ cafe on the 80th floor.

Tower on the Embankment

• Tower A: 84m; Tower B:127m; Tower C: 268m, 61 floors
• Completed in 2007
• Architects: Vehbi Inan and Olcay Erturk

After completion, the Tower on the Embankment was the tallest building in Europe, and is now the 13th tallest. It houses the headquarters of several large Russian and international  companies, including IBM and KPMG. There are two cafes located on the 1st floor of Tower C – self-service café ‘Obed Bufet’ (Lunch Buffet) and Bakery Chain ‘Khleb Nasushchny’ (Daily Bread).

Evolution Tower

• 255m tall, 54 floors
• Architects: Philip Nikandrov and RMJM Scotland Ltd

Evolution is Moscow City’s most recognisable tower, and the 11th tallest building in Russia. Its façade is a true architectural marvel, comprising continuous strips of curved glazing spiralling high into  the sky. According to the architect, Philip Nikandrov, the spiral shape of the tower honours centuries of architectural design in Russia, from the onion domes of St Basil's Cathedral to Vladimir Shukhov’s Tatlin Tower, a masterpiece of Constructivist design. Outside the Evolution tower is a landscaped terrace and pedestrian zone descending to the Presnenskaya Embankment, which was also designed by Nikandrov.

Did you know? Moscow’s largest wedding palace was supposed to be built on the site of the Evolution tower, though the project was abandoned.

• 239m tall, 60 floors
• Completed in 2011

Imperia’s interesting design has a curved roof and an arched glass façade. Inside the tower are various cafes including ‘City Friends’ for all-day breakfasts and light lunches, ‘Mama in the City’ for simple meals of Russian cuisine, and ‘abc kitchen’ for European and Indian-inspired dishes. Alternatively, visit ‘High Bar’ on the 56th floor for cocktails with a view. In Imperia you’ll also find the Museum of High-Rise Construction in Moscow (suitably located on the 56th floor), and the Camera Immersive Theatre.

Did you know? Inside Vystavochnaya metro station is the Metro Museum , dedicated to the history of the beautiful Moscow Metro!

• 130m tall, 26 floors
• Completed in 2001
• Architect: Boris Tkhor

Tower 2000 was Moscow City’s first tower. It stands on the opposite bank of the Moskva River, and houses a viewing platform from which visitors can admire an unparalleled panorama of Moscow City. The Bagration Bridge reaches across the river from the tower to Moscow City, and underneath are piers from where you can take boat trips.

Photo by Alexander Popov on Unsplash

Afimall is Moscow’s largest entertainment and shopping complex, home to 450 shops, cafes and restaurants, a cinema, and a virtual-reality game park. The shopping centre is located in the central section of Moscow City, and a cinema and concert hall are currently under construction there.

What’s nearby?

Sechenov Botanical Gardens: The botanical gardens of the First Moscow State Medical University was created for students’ training and research in 1946. Today it is open for free visits, and is home to a large arboretum.

Park Krasnaya Presnya: This park belonged to the Studenets estate of the Gagarin princes. It is a monument of 18th and 19th century landscaping, with Dutch ponds, ornate bridges, and tree-lined alleys. There are also sports facilities, sports equipment rental, and cafes.

Photo by Akkit  on Wikipedia

Essential information for visitors

Website: https://www.citymoscow.ru/

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +7 (495) 730-23-33

Nearest metro: Mezhdunarodnaya (closest to the skyscrapers), Delovoy Tsentr (underneath Afimall), Vystavochnaya (closest to Expocentre)

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Moscow - St. Petersburg 3-star cruise by Vodohod

This is our most popular cruise covering Moscow and St. Petersburg and all of the significant towns between these 2 cities. Besides the Two Capitals, you will visit the ancient towns of Uglich, Yaroslavl and Goritsy, the island of Kizhi, and Mandrogui village.

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Two Capitals and the Golden Ring

This tour covers the best sights of Moscow and St. Petersburg along with a trip to the Golden Ring - a group of medieval towns to the northeast of Moscow. Ancient Kremlins, onion-shaped domes and wooden architecture is just a small part of what awaits you on this amazing tour.

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California offers catastrophe plan to draw insurers back to the state. But at what cost?

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Good morning. It’s Friday, March 29 . Here’s what you need to know to start your day.

California intends to attract insurers back with flexible policies

• It is shaping up to be a wet Easter weekend in SoCal
• Nineteen best late-night hangouts in Koreatown
• And here’s today’s e-newspaper

Start your day right

Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.

The homeowners insurance crisis in California worsened last week when State Farm General Insurance announced that it wouldn’t renew 72,000 property owner policies statewide. Those policies are set to be canceled by summertime.

It’s not just State Farm.

Other insurers, like Allstate and USAA, have rapidly ceased new business in the Golden State, blaming the intensifying risk of insuring homes in the state’s increasingly dry, fuel-rich, fire-prone forests . We could be hurtling toward an “ uninsurable future .”

Weeks ago, the California Department of Insurance, or CDI, proposed a regulation allowing insurers to use catastrophe models — computerized processes that simulate potential catastrophic events — to consider the projected impacts of climate change when requesting rate increases.

California hopes this will help lure insurers back.

If approved, insurers could submit catastrophe models for wildfires, floods and terrorism to the CDI and use predictions from these models to justify rate increases.

The state had already struck a deal in September to allow insurers to pass on the costs of reinsurance policies — which they use to help cover their own losses after major catastrophes — to customers in exchange for insurers returning to high-risk fire zones in California’s hills and canyons. The changes are slated to go into effect by the end of 2024.

Under Proposition 103 , the state’s law governing the insurance industry, companies had been forbidden from passing on reinsurance costs to customers and were required to set rates based only on historical fire data.

The CDI believes changing this policy will provide more stable costs than current regulations, which have led to sudden and steep increases for those at higher risk of wildfire.

But advocates say catastrophe modeling isn’t always fair

Consumer Watchdog, an advocacy group, opposes catastrophe modeling, labeling it a violation of Proposition 103, and argues that the policy seems designed to restrict public access to information about how models affect rates.

“Catastrophe models are notoriously contradictory and unreliable, which is why public review and transparency are key before insurance companies are allowed to use them to raise rates,” the group wrote in a statement .

The regulation proposal is part of Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara’s Sustainable Insurance Strategy , a package of executive actions aimed at improving insurance choices and addressing the long-term sustainability of California’s insurance market.

Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order in September commanding the insurance commissioner to “take prompt regulatory action to strengthen and stabilize California’s marketplace.”

“This issue isn’t just a yellow flag; it’s a waving red flag,” Newsom said at Climate Week NYC in September, speaking of the Legislature’s failure to address the slow-moving collapse of the property insurance market.

Insurers’ leaving the state has placed extra strain on many homeowners’ last-resort option

State Farm — the state’s longtime leading home insurer— had already announced last June that it would stop offering new property policies in the state due to the “rapidly growing catastrophe exposure and a challenging reinsurance market.”

USAA and Allstate also pulled back . Farmers capped the number of new policies written monthly. Travelers and Nationwide imposed new restrictions, making it harder for new customers to qualify for policies.

For the record:

9:20 a.m. March 29, 2024 An earlier version of this article stated that Allstate stopped offering new property policies in California following State Farm’s June 2023 announcement. Allstate stopped offering new policies to California customers in November 2022.

“This could be the beginning of a market collapse that would leave millions stranded without affordable insurance as their homes burned to the ground,” Times reporter Sam Dean wrote last summer .

A scarcity of insurance choices has driven thousands to purchase limited insurance from the Fair Access to Insurance Requirement, or FAIR, Plan, with 350,000 Californians covered as of January 2024. The fund is a last resort insurance pool California requires insurance companies to contribute to based on their statewide market share.

However, a massive leap in enrollment from just under 273,000 two years ago has financially strained the state insurer. The president of the FAIR Plan Assn. warned lawmakers that the organization may be unable to financially survive a catastrophe.

Californians need insurance. Advocates say insurers can afford more.

Insurance remains the safest protection against personal calamities, whether climate-induced or otherwise, Times columnist Anita Chabria wrote last year . The state’s residents need insurers to remain in the market.

But climate change should not be a free pass for gouging consumers, Chabria said. Despite the cited disaster claims, she pointed out that insurance companies are still making money, albeit with worse profit margins than in the past.

During discussions last summer about the forward-looking models, Harvey Rosenfield , founder of Consumer Watchdog, stated: “This has nothing to do with climate change; it’s about the industry’s greed and its 35-year campaign — so far unsuccessful — to escape the requirements of Prop. 103.”

Today’s top stories

Proposition 1

• An advocacy group for California cities supported Prop. 1. Now some members are leaving .
• Your guide to Proposition 1: Newsom’s overhaul of California’s mental health system.
• Voters approve Proposition 1 , Newsom’s overhaul of the California mental health system.
• Opinion: Californians narrowly passed Proposition 1. Can the state ensure the measure will work?

Nazi-looted art case

• California legislators push law change after ruling against a family in the Nazi-looted art case.
• A Jewish family, a famous European museum and the battle for a Nazi-looted masterpiece .

Baltimore bridge collapse

• How will the Baltimore bridge collapse affect prices and the West Coast?
• The Baltimore bridge collapse reminds us immigrants often do unheralded and dangerous work .
• Efforts are underway to remove Baltimore bridge ruins; search suspended for four workers presumed dead.
• Two bodies were pulled from the underwater wreckage of the collapsed Baltimore bridge.
• Would California bridges stand up to a direct hit? We asked experts.

Prison-bound crypto mogul

• Fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried is sentenced to 25 years in prison .
• Michael Hiltzik: Sam Bankman-Fried will be sentenced Thursday for his crypto fraud. Throw the book at him .
• Ohtani says he’s cooperating with investigators. Yasiel Puig offers a cautionary tale .
• After a week of drama, Dodgers get back to the familiar and win their home opener.
• Photos: Opening Day 2024 at Dodger Stadium .

Fast food price increases

• Starbucks, Chipotle, McDonald’s: Who’s raising prices in California to pay higher wages .
• With fewer options, South L.A. braces for bigger bills at fast-food restaurants .

More big stories

• At least 14 hurt as MTA bus is part of multi-vehicle ‘rollover collision’ in South L.A.
• Hay grown for cattle consumes nearly half the water drawn from Colorado River , a study finds.
• Former top LAPD official accused of tracking woman with AirTag alleges cronyism by ex-chief.
• A former Cal State Northridge official was gunned down at L.A. Live. Two have been arrested.
• California proposal would change how power bills are calculated , aiming to relieve summer spikes.
• The U.S. changes how it categorizes people by race and ethnicity , its first revision in 27 years.
• The Broad expansion : What you need to know about the $100-million project.
• San Francisco just canceled its 420 fest . Marijuana fans thought it had gotten too commercial anyway.
• Rattlesnakes on Santa Catalina Island have learned that it pays to be unusually aggressive.
• AMC Theatres shares plummet as the theater chain reels from box office struggles.
• Easter weekend storm dousing plans in L.A.: When will it rain? What’s been canceled?
• Cesar Chavez’s family wants nothing to do with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign .
• LAX’s long-promised rail link, the People Mover, likely delayed until late 2025 .
• Scientists say these killer whales are distinct species . It could save them.
• Blue jellyfish-like critters arrive in Bay Area. When will they show up on SoCal beaches?
• Homeless deaths in L.A. dropped, but many are dying from drugs .
• Louis Gossett Jr. , ‘An Officer and a Gentleman’ star who broke barriers in Hollywood, dies.

Get unlimited access to the Los Angeles Times. Subscribe here .

Commentary and opinions

• Editorial: Bring buttons and dials back to new cars . Touch screens distract drivers.
• Jackie Calmes: Is this the worst Congress ever? Let’s count the ways.
• Erika D. Smith: What if Bruce’s Beach was just the start? Why more stolen land is about be returned.
• Editorial: At long last, women finally have a real shot at California’s top job .

Today’s great reads

Fisker had big dreams to compete with Tesla. What went wrong with this Manhattan Beach company? Multiple factors contributed to the company’s fall, analysts said, including the challenges of starting an auto company from scratch, fierce competition in the EV market and production difficulties with its flagship Ocean SUV.

Other great reads

• They escaped a world of fast fashion to teach L.A. how to give old clothes new life.
• When Martin Luther King Jr. came to L.A., only one white politician was willing to greet him .
• A final night at the Conga Room.

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to [email protected] .

For your downtime

• 🍸 Nineteen best late-night hangouts in Koreatown to keep the party going.
• 🦍 ‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’ — in theaters Friday — is monster math that becomes a headache.
• 📺 In Hulu’s ‘We Were the Lucky Ones,’ an engrossing family drama with the Holocaust as backdrop.
• 🧑‍🍳 Here’s a recipe for Roman-style chickpea and tomato soup with bulgur .
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games .

And finally ... a powerful photo

Show us your favorite place in California! We’re running low on submissions. Send us photos that scream California and we may feature them in an edition of Essential California.

Today’s powerful photo is from Times photographer Marcus Yam from the West Bank, where the olive harvest has suffered with the expansion of Israeli settlements.

Have a great day, from the Essential California team Anthony De Leon, reporting fellow Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor Karim Doumar, head of newsletters

Check our top stories , topics and the latest articles on latimes.com .

Anthony De Leon is a 2023-24 reporting fellow at the Los Angeles Times. Born in Fresno to a Chicano family, he pursued his higher education in his hometown, earning an associate‘s degree in journalism from Fresno City College and then completing a bachelor’s in media, communications and journalism at Fresno State. He went on to complete his master’s in media innovation at the University of Nevada, Reno.

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