The murky bottom of a Sour Lake rice field tugs on Jake Tortorice’s waterproof boots as he travels from one wire trap to the next. Maneuvering a small push boat—what resembles a buoyant shopping cart—he inspects wriggling crawfish for size and health. Only the finest specimens will make their way into plastic pails and depart this area of Beaumont in 35-pound sacks, bound for restaurants and backyard boils within a 100-mile radius.
Tortorice runs this farm, but harvesting crawfish is a relatively new addition to the third-generation family business. Initially focused on traditional agriculture, the farm’s trajectory changed around eight years ago when, motivated by his wife’s passion for the delicacy, he ventured into the crawfish side of things.
Enjoying this article?In south-central Louisiana, the crustaceans live and are farmed in natural wetlands like the Atchafalaya Basin, but 97% of commercial mudbugs from Southeast Texas are raised in farmer-managed rice fields like Tortorice’s at Bayou Best Crawfish. Our neighbors to the east still harvest 20 times the volume Texas produces during crawfish season, but Tortorice and other Lone Star State farmers are steadily gaining ground with upward of 20 producers operating on 15,000 acres of land.
The cultivation of crawfish is an intricate seasonal dance that begins in April with the sowing of rice seed on dry ground. A month later, water is gradually introduced to cover the fields. As the plants grow, the water level is adjusted to maintain a balance that prevents weed growth and provides ideal conditions for crawfish: cool, shallow, and boggy. At a height of around 2 feet, the rice plants form a canopy that shades the water, and juvenile crawfish are introduced into the fields. Feeding on microorganisms and small aquatic invertebrates, these tiny creatures grow and mature throughout the summer months. A pattern of draining and refilling the rice fields entices the crawfish to burrow into levees, where they’ll hunker down until they’re large enough for harvesting in the winter and early spring.
The operation at Bayou Best is certainly not without its challenges. Extreme weather has become a more regular occurrence in Texas, and droughts and freezes can significantly impact crawfish survival. A long summer dry spell in 2023 led to a particularly difficult start in 2024 as older brute stock succumbed to dehydration, wiping out an entire mature crop.
“With agriculture, there’s nothing consistent except variability,” Tortorice says. “As a farmer, all we can really hope for is that we’re able to get the crawfish to burrow up, have a good reproductive season, and keep our fingers crossed.”
Despite last year’s slow start, the weather eventually turned, extending the farm’s crawfish season. It’s that kind of determination that has turned a modest 150-acre endeavor into a massive 900-acre operation. Tortorice’s brand now produces an average of 400,000 pounds of crawfish every year—a little over 5% of the 7.5 million pounds raised in the state annually.
“It’s a fun business, even when you’re dealing with Mother Nature,” he says. “Your customers are always happy, and it’s kind of cool knowing you had a little something to do with that.”
