Price increases are associated with the inflationary pressures that have led to higher overall food costs. Sink said crawfish lovers should expect to pay higher prices than last year. Extending harvest a week or two can add 70-100 pounds per acre.” Prices Higher Per Pound They want to be first while prices are high, but the crawfish at the end of the season are the profit.
“The beginning of the season pays the farm bills. “The shorter-season rice varieties give producers an edge,” he said. Sink believes rice variety introductions over recent years have helped dual-purpose producers harvest crawfish deeper into the season. Those acres produce around 650 pounds per acre of crawfish until they are shut down for rice planting.Īcres dedicated solely to crawfish can produce 900-950 pounds per acre and can be harvested a month to six weeks longer than rice acres, Sink said. Fortunately, he said, Texas producers in areas suitable for production are making the most of their acres.Īround 60% of Texas crawfish acres are dual-purpose flooded rice fields that provide habitat for crawfish farming until rice is planted. Sink said crawfish farming has tried to move beyond Southeast Texas but that sandy, acidic soils and lack of water proved inhospitable to production. We’re kind of running out of acres suitable for crawfish.” “We went through good expansion years, but no new farms have come in over the past year. “The Texas crawfish industry is doing well, but production remained static this year,” he said. Texas production is hard to pin down due to the lack of official reporting, but Sink believes producers average between 750-800 pounds per acre, or 7.125 million to 7.6 million pounds of crawfish from about 9,500 acres annually.
About 60%-70% of crawfish consumed in Texas come from Louisiana, Sink said. Texas ranks second in crawfish production, but it is far behind Louisiana, which produced 150 million pounds on around 250,000 acres in 2019.
It also takes more crawfish per pound when they are smaller.” Texas Crawfish Production Remains Strong “Jumbo crawfish demand premium prices and could be close to $1 more per pound compared to regular grade crawfish. “Our crawfish are bigger and bringing better prices,” Sink said. Producers around Beaumont, however, were not seeing smaller sizes, he said. Winter freezes in early winter also killed back vegetation, which compounded their lack of winter foraging. Dry conditions forced crawfish to remain in burrows for long periods, which meant they were foraging and growing less. Sizes were below average in Louisiana this year due to weather, but crawfish have been consistently bigger in Texas during the early season.ĭrought conditions and the impacts of winter freezes were worse in Louisiana production areas compared to Southeast Texas, he said. Sink said crawfish have fared better in Texas than Louisiana this year. Todd Sink, AgriLife Extension aquaculture specialist and director of the AgriLife Extension Aquatic Diagnostics Lab, said the crawfish industry continues to thrive in Texas and demand continues to rise across the state. Texas crawfish production remained steady, but consumers should expect higher prices this season as demand continues to grow, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service expert.ĭr.
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