Crawfish are starting to emerge. Here's what to expect from the upcoming season

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This time last year, the effects of south Louisiana's extended summer drought spelled bad news for area crawfish farmers.

It costs a lot of money to pump water into dry fields, and many crawfish and their hatchlings didn't make it through the abnormally hot and dry conditions of 2023. At the start of the 2024 crawfish season, these poor conditions were reflected in the price and availability of one of the region's most anticipated products.

In a normal year, Louisiana crawfish farmers supply more than 150 million pounds of the succulent crustaceans to wholesalers and consumers, bringing more than $300 million to the state's economy. In 2024, the LSU AgCenter estimated around $140 million worth of losses to the industry stemming from the heat and drought of 2023.

Here's some good news: There's little reason to think that the upcoming crawfish season will be anything like the last one.

According to Todd Fontenot, LSU AgCenter extension agent for crawfish production, the crustaceans and their hatchlings are starting to emerge from their holes, to a much more favorable environment.

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While the past couple of weeks have been dryer than farmers would prefer, this summer's increased rainfall, along with more moderate temperatures, means that the fields are in better condition for the crawfish. Crawfish fields that are also in rice production have rice stubble at the floor, and when it's healthier the crawfish are better able to forage and protect themselves.

"It's hard to tell how many of the little ones actually make it," said Adler Stelly, a crawfish farmer in Vermilion Parish. "I definitely want to say it seems to be looking better. It depends on how dry it stays in the next three weeks, and how hot it gets. Early signs are pointing to a pretty good season."

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Even with the unpredictability of weather and agriculture, crawfish lovers have reason to be hopeful about the upcoming season — but it's a little too early to predict wallet impacts.

In a typical year, prices average between $3 and $6 a pound for boiled crawfish. The 2024 season started around $12 to $14 a pound, and dropped to $9 a pound by March, when crawfish restaurants like Hawk's in Rayne finally had enough supply to open to customers. By the end of the 2024 crawfish season, prices had dipped back within the normal ranges.

"It's going to be a plentiful year, hopefully, if production is good with the acreage out there," said Fontenot. "Producers were pretty much able to stock their ponds like they wanted to for the year — there were a few that ran short, because the season was so short last year. But for the most part, they're looking good. I think there'll be plenty of crawfish out there for everybody."

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