DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado may have legalized crawfish boils this year, but it could be a struggle to get the mudbugs this season.
Farmers in Louisiana are concerned this could be the worst crawfish harvest season on record because of drought and other weather impacts. Farmers are not seeing the crawfish populations in their fields that normally would be prevalent this time of year.
As crawfish becomes less available, Louisiana farmers are eyeing record-high prices. One popular app, the Crawfish App, reported the average prices for boiled crawfish in the state last week were $12.99 per pound — nearly double what they sold for during the same week of 2023.
A quick search of the Louisiana Crawfish Company’s online shop shows most products are sold out, but boiled crawfish were selling for $14.59 per pound.
Crawfish farmers harvest the mudbugs by growing a rice crop in shallow water and adding crawfish to burrow underground. If temperatures are right, female crawfish will lay 400-900 eggs each. But last year’s drought prevented farmers from flooding some fields, and excessive heat caused the earth to be too hard for the creatures to bury themselves in the mud. Additionally, recent cold fronts have impacted crops growing in the past few months.
Crawfish farmers typically harvest between December and June, and spring is peak season.
