Latest Weather Blog
Louisiana farmers balance rice and crawfish during year-round farming cycle
Related Story
MORGANZA - In Louisiana, the changing seasons bring a unique agricultural rhythm where rice and crawfish coexist.
Rice farmer Marty Frey at Four Oaks farm says it's a year-round process between growing and harvesting the rice, then catching the crawfish.
"We plant the rice, keep it flooded all year, drain it all off just prior to harvest, harvest it and pump it right back up so we're ready for the emergence of the crawfish," Frey said.
Modern technology enables rice farmers to better manage their rice ponds, ensuring a productive harvest. Rice grows in flooded ponds, but when it's time to harvest, farmers can drain the ponds, regardless of Mother Nature's intentions. They can flood the fields again using pumps to restart the growing season.
"We could not ever grow rice or raise crawfish without the ability to control the water,” Frey said. "At the time of rice harvest, we have to get the water off of the field because we can go into the water."
Some Louisiana farmers have discovered that the payout from crawfish is significantly higher than rice. As a result, they plant "green rice," which is not intended for harvest but specifically to support crawfish production.
The crawfish feed on the stalks of the rice plants, fattening up before they are collected.
"If you have a high population of crawfish, when you do drain the water off the field will be bare because they foraged everything that was there," Frey said.
To forecast the upcoming crawfish season, Frey says there isn't one.
"It's just a matter of getting through it. We can only control what we can control and that's getting the water on, getting the water off, and having it flooded at the proper depth so these crawfish can thrive," Frey said.
Farmers will begin harvesting the crawfish around February 2025.
News
