Low crawfish crop-LSU Ag

From the article...
"Here are a few more thoughts and observations based on what I've seen to date (early January).
The drought and heat during the summer and fall caused very high mortality of the carryover crawfish and brood stock. Those are the crawfish that the farmers should be catching in December, January, and February. I don't see the catch picking anytime soon, especially considering the freezing temperatures expected thru January. Some farmers still have not put out traps mainly because test traps show no sign of crawfish.

I've dip netted in quite a few ponds and have found very few juvenile crawfish. The ones I do see were likely released from their mother's tail since the big rain event the region had on December 1, 2023. Given the cold water temperature in January, their growth will be slow and not reach harvest size until late March or April. But even when these crawfish are big enough to catch, there is not a large population of them. The catch may pick up for a short while in April and May but will not be sustainable for the entire spring. The spring crop will be a fraction of what is normally caught.
In addition to the extremely short supply of crawfish, farmers are also seeing their production costs significantly increase. Pumping costs for flooding and maintaining a flood have tripled and, in some cases, quadrupled. Combined with the rise in labor cost, bait, and supplies, this will be a very expensive crop to produce."

I do t appreciate your negativity!

13.00/lb was the last number I saw.

On another thread someone did a calculation: @$9/lb, 15% yield by weight of tail meat=$60/lb

From crawfish.com...
How much crawfish does one person eat?

"At LA Crawfish the average is about 3 lbs per person (whole cooked crayfish yields about 15% tail meat, therefore 3 lbs of whole cooked crayfish equals about 1/2 lb of tail meat). However, it is important to take your guests into consideration, crayfish fans may consume 5-6 lbs of perfectly cooked crayfish easily in one sitting!"

CTGilley said:

---

I do t appreciate your negativity!

---

Git out the bacon strip, hit the bar ditches with a pole and bait....bring beer, you may be there for a while.

Crawfish are gross

https://texags.com/forums/67/topics/3437813

Thread on the food board.

Boo this

redaszag99 said:

---

Crawfish are gross

---

you probably haven't had em cooked right. The place I stayed at in college station freshman year catered crawfish for the whole complex and they served them over ice as soon as they got out the boiler and they were awful. I've eaten crawfish my whole life and never seen anyone put them on ice back at home. Also, every kid from Austin or Dallas had no idea how to eat them lol.

If you are curious about crawfish farming:

Crawfish Farming and the Real Secret Behind Their Popularity

A couple of things about crawfish. If you are really interested in how crawfish are grown, here is a 30-minute vid to watch.



Yes, it is shaping up to be a very short year in terms of supply -- largely due to the severe drought in La this past summer. In short, a drought during the time of year (summer/early fall) when crawfish are down in burrows can cause reproductive failure and loss of broostock if severe enough. This is what happened. And of course live crawfish are a very perishable product, so supply/demand governs the price -- thus, very low supply = very high prices right now. If enough broodstock survived the drought then a second wave of reproduction during winter or early spring could mean somewhat of a late crop in some areas. That is if farmers keep their fields flooded and don't drain them to plant another crop. Then there is the natural fishery which, while not producing much yet, could produce something later on depending largely on water flow down the Mississippi river. So, supply might increase some, mitigating prices to some extent, but this will not be a normal year for sure.

For those that do not like boiled crawfish, there is also the processed product (peeled tail meat), where crawfish can be substituted for shrimp in any recipe. However, without sufficient supply this product (at least from the US) will be in short supply and high price also.

redaszag99 said:

---

Crawfish are gross

---

I love going to crawfish boils for the social aspect of it, hanging out with friends/family/neighbors and having a good time. The crawfish themselves I can take or leave. It's a dirty mudbug you have to work to get the 15% edible part, that's also usually so overseasoned to try and give it flavor that your lips burn the rest of the day.

Much rather bbq, grill burgers, etc. but at the end of the day it's about getting together and breaking bread with those you like to spend time with.

agfan2013 said:

---

redaszag99 said:

---

Crawfish are gross

---

I love going to crawfish boils for the social aspect of it, hanging out with friends/family/neighbors and having a good time. The crawfish themselves I can take or leave. It's a dirty mudbug you have to work to get the 15% edible part, that's also usually so overseasoned to try and give it flavor that your lips burn the rest of the day.

Much rather bbq, grill burgers, etc. but at the end of the day it's about getting together and breaking bread with those you like to spend time with.

---

Whoever cooked them did it wrong. It's all about the soak. Should not have to sprinkle them with Tony's, which is usually why you get the lip burn…

Crawfish aren't gross but most definitely overrated. Feel bad for the folks who make their livelihood off raising mudbugs.

Tailgate88 said:

---

agfan2013 said:

---

redaszag99 said:

---

Crawfish are gross

---

I love going to crawfish boils for the social aspect of it, hanging out with friends/family/neighbors and having a good time. The crawfish themselves I can take or leave. It's a dirty mudbug you have to work to get the 15% edible part, that's also usually so overseasoned to try and give it flavor that your lips burn the rest of the day.

Much rather bbq, grill burgers, etc. but at the end of the day it's about getting together and breaking bread with those you like to spend time with.

---

Whoever cooked them did it wrong. It's all about the soak. Should not have to sprinkle them with Tony's, which is usually why you get the lip burn…

---

Exactly.
And I'll add that if you have to work to peel the crawfish...you're doing it waaaay wrong

The way to get the tail meat is the punch push and pull method....takes 5 seconds to get the tail meat

A stick of butter in the pot at the beginning of the soak helps those tails slip out of the shell a little easier as well.

One bag/100 acres

I have never been able to get over the bile in the tail. It's gross.

And I grew up in crawfish country.

water turkey said:

---

I have never been able to get over the bile in the tail. It's gross.

And I grew up in crawfish country.

---

The yellowish "bile" is actually a fatty tissue called the hepatopancrease, which is actually a digestive gland similar to liver, but is situated at the front end of the tail muscle and not inside the tail. This can be wiped or washed off, but this yellow tissue is very flavorful and sweet tasting and is highly prized by crawfish connoisseurs. If you can get passed the looks, it becomes and asset to most connoisseurs.

Now the "vein" or intestinal tract does run thru the tail as it does in shrimp and lobsters, but can be easily dealt with with a little instruction.

When we were kids, my brother and I and our friends used to grab them out of ditches and our back yards when it rained. We would put them in a bucket and have fights with them. We would eventually get bored and go inside leaving them in the bucket. That smell of that bucket after they sat in the sun for a few hours and died in it is why I won't ever eat crawfish.

I've boiled a few pounds of crawfish in my time

I hate people sprinkle Tony's over them - let them
Soak 30 mins in seasoned cold water after boil they will suck that flavor right in

A post cook soak is a very good way to season crawfish, but for large volume events where multiple batches of crawfish must be cooked in the same pot it is sometimes not feasible to soak hundreds or thousands of pounds. Instead, a dry season mix is often used but the professionals don't use Tony's. There are much better and effective recipes for this (ranging from mild to as spicy as desired) and can be very good. However many cooks may not divulge their exact recipe easily.

While I enjoy crawfish I do not get the hype of those who think it's the best thing ever. I'd much rather have boiled shrimp.

plowboy1065 said:

---

I've boiled a few pounds of crawfish in my time

---

Need any more friends?

Stringfellow Hawke said:

---

plowboy1065 said:

---

I've boiled a few pounds of crawfish in my time

---

Need any more friends?

---

I can certainly tell you some of the events we boil crawfish for around Houston

txags92 said:

---

When we were kids, my brother and I and our friends used to grab them out of ditches and our back yards when it rained. We would put them in a bucket and have fights with them. We would eventually get bored and go inside leaving them in the bucket. That smell of that bucket after they sat in the sun for a few hours and died in it is why I won't ever eat crawfish.

---

You could say this about most everything you eat.

JayM said:

---

txags92 said:

---

When we were kids, my brother and I and our friends used to grab them out of ditches and our back yards when it rained. We would put them in a bucket and have fights with them. We would eventually get bored and go inside leaving them in the bucket. That smell of that bucket after they sat in the sun for a few hours and died in it is why I won't ever eat crawfish.

---

You could say this about most everything you eat.

---

I am sure. My wife's family raises goats and I won't be eating any Cabrito any time soon either. I don't think eating crawfish is gross or that other people shouldn't want to eat them. It is just a personal thing where the smell of that bucket gets tied in my head to what they are and there is something in the boiling of them that triggers that smell memory just enough to where I can't bring myself to even want to try them.

Got two pounds of tails in the freezer waiting for the right time to make an etouffee.

Bassfishin17 said:

---

redaszag99 said:

---

Crawfish are gross

---

you probably haven't had em cooked right.

---

That's what I tell my wife on some food. It's kind of a cop out though. As she says "maybe it's just ****ty food and you like eating ****ty food that's ****ty no matter how you cook it because it's ****ty food? It could be that."

I do love me some crawfish though and there some methods that can augment the user experience of eating them.

Price doesn't look to bad. Not sure what size.

If anyone is need of a refrigerated trailer over the next couple of months, let me know. I have one sitting idol in the yard

Is this parked in a lot next to a chicken farm in Kurten?