Day 16 - Travel Day to Lafayette, Louisiana

Submitted by:  Sharlet and Jim Seale #17

This morning before our travel day began, we were treated to a pancake and sausage breakfast by the staff. 

10 people from the Adventure Caravans group met at Tallgrass Farm with Burt Tietje the owner of large rice and crawfish farms.  Very informative about farming crawfish.

They drain fields in July to harvest rice in August. Crawfish burrow in mud between 18 to 36 inches deep to stay cool. They will mate during this period. The field will be flooded in October, then crawfish surface with the female carrying under her tail 2 to 3 hundred eggs. If the farmer should lose their crawfish due to weather,  predators or anything else, it takes 30 lbs. of crawfish per acre to replant their field.

 

 

Tallgrass Farms has 65 acres now in crawfish with 12 traps per acre, so he cleans between 700 to 800 traps per day. This environment attracts many predators like birds, snakes, turtles and raccoons. Raccoons being the worst for they also love feasting on crawfish.

Between the two parishes in south west Louisiana 12 to 15 million lbs. of crawfish are produced every year. Great stop. !!! This was a travel day and thanks to Mike Ashley for making the arrangement we all enjoyed this outing.