Drought conditions over the summer boiled crawfish before farmers could harvest them, creating a dire situation that the governor has declared a disaster.
Farmers and scientists say the summertime drought has delivered a blow directly to the state’s soul in a way that hurricanes or other extreme weather never have: It has come perilously close to ruining crawfish season.
Across the state, farmers have reported harvests as dire as Mr. Stelly’s, if not worse, even as they have shouldered the enormous cost of pumping in water for their dry ponds.
The resulting turbulence and heartache reflect how crawfish figure into just about every facet of Louisiana: the economy, the culture, even blood pressure levels.
Mr. Stelly recently traveled to Washington, reluctantly urging congressional representatives and federal officials to provide some financial support for the industry.
And although some in the crawfish industry were reluctant to blame climate change, in a state that has been bombarded by powerful hurricanes, ice storms, wildfires and an ocean voraciously chewing away its coastline, here was yet another vivid display of nature’s volatility.
Yet he moved like an experienced hand as he checked his traps one afternoon in his flat-bottomed boat, which had a hydraulic outboard motor designed for water that is roughly 18 inches deep.
The original article contains 1,626 words, the summary contains 188 words. Saved 88%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Farmers and scientists say the summertime drought has delivered a blow directly to the state’s soul in a way that hurricanes or other extreme weather never have: It has come perilously close to ruining crawfish season.
Across the state, farmers have reported harvests as dire as Mr. Stelly’s, if not worse, even as they have shouldered the enormous cost of pumping in water for their dry ponds.
The resulting turbulence and heartache reflect how crawfish figure into just about every facet of Louisiana: the economy, the culture, even blood pressure levels.
Mr. Stelly recently traveled to Washington, reluctantly urging congressional representatives and federal officials to provide some financial support for the industry.
And although some in the crawfish industry were reluctant to blame climate change, in a state that has been bombarded by powerful hurricanes, ice storms, wildfires and an ocean voraciously chewing away its coastline, here was yet another vivid display of nature’s volatility.
Yet he moved like an experienced hand as he checked his traps one afternoon in his flat-bottomed boat, which had a hydraulic outboard motor designed for water that is roughly 18 inches deep.
The original article contains 1,626 words, the summary contains 188 words. Saved 88%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!