From now until Sept. 11, crawfish farmers can apply for assistance from a U.S. Department of Agriculture program to compensate them for losses related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Results from a survey of crawfish producers show that decreased demand for their product is resulting in lost income of about $500 an acre and a season that could end about 40 days sooner than usual in some cases.
A south Louisiana winter that has been colder than normal so far has caused a sluggish start to the 2018 crawfish season. But industry officials are optimistic that crawfish will be a lot more plentiful by March or April.
Get the fixin’s ready, it’s just about time for farmers to begin flooding their ponds, and it won’t be long before they start pulling crawfish from them.
Ray McClain, LSU AgCenter aquaculture specialist, said deep floods should not be allowed to remain on crawfish ponds because the water will be low in oxygen.
“It’s not a bad idea to hold a real shallow flood,” McClain said.