Mid-January
in most of America is a tundra without much excitement to offer, but this is
New Orleans. Here, mid-January marks the beginning of hard-shelled happiness.
During a regular year, crawfish season is the best excuse for throwing a big
social gathering. Although 2021 is not a regular year yet, that doesn't mean
crawfish are off the table for you and your pandemic pod. In fact, the crop
this year is looking better than last year.
We
spoke with the folks at Louisiana
Crawfish Co., a family-owned and -operated farm, about
how this season looked from an expert's perspective. "I think the season's
going to be better, the quality is going to be better, and the price will go
down," said one of their representatives.
At
Louisiana Crawfish Co. crawfish come in four grade sizes: jumbo, select, field
run, and bait size. A shrimpy crawdad can still be great for bait, but most
people want the big guys for their boil. That's where the weather comes in.
Agriculture continues to be ruled by forces outside of our control. Knowing
this, crawfish farmers account for low temps, anticipating that the cold
weather will kill off some of the young. In a mild winter like last year, hedging
your bets incorrectly means smaller sizes. On the surface, more crawfish
surviving may seem like a good thing, but in the ponds, overpopulation leads to
food scarcity. When more young survive, there's more competition for the food
crop.
This
year, the farmers' estimates and the weather were in sync. There was a lot of
rice out in the fields for crawfish to eat, so they reached larger sizes. For
Louisiana Crawfish Co., Monday morning is when big buyers in the state call and
prices are set. This week, the prices are running on the high side, with
fishermen seeing $4 per pound. Crawfish season hits a crescendo after Mardi
Gras. After Fat Tuesday, prices drop down the lowest because everyone's
catching—from the pond-raised to the wild, production is up. Demand goes up for
Lent as well, but the experts tell us that March through May is the best time
to fill up at a low price. That is, if your crawfish craving can hold out that
long.
If
you're like us and now find yourself fascinated by crawfish farming, you can
watch the Louisiana Crawfish Co. team at work on their website. There, you'll
find videos of them purging & grading, preparing the live crawfish for a
flight on a Southwest plane, and an episode in which their business was
featured on the Discovery Channel show "How We Do It." Stick around to shop
their online store for other products, such as famous Natchitoches meat pies,
spices galore, and whole skinned alligator by the pound.
For more
information, to go lacrawfish.com
Photo by Sidney Pearce on Unsplash
