When rice farmer Kelly Hundley received a phone call informing him that a busful of Amish tourists were stopping by to take a tour of his crawfish farm, in the spirit of good old-fashioned Cajun hospitality he said, “bring them on over!” After tasting crawfish for the first time in New Orleans, the visitors wanted to know more: How are they grown? How are they harvested? How did the crawfish make it from the field to the plate? Their tour guide knew to take them to the center of crawfish production in the United States; Acadia Parish, Louisiana. That was over twenty years ago and this same crew has returned every crawfish season since.
From the very start, rice farming has been central to the story of Acadia Parish, and in a place known as “Cajun Harvest Country,” it’s no wonder that crawfish farming came to represent another core ingredient in Acadia’s agricultural heritage. In what began as a resilient response to a poor rice harvest season more than fifty years ago, crawfish farming today is one of the most vital and visible industries in southwest Louisiana. For farmers in Acadia, crawfishing is a way of life, and by sharing their knowledge, their traditions, and by educating guests who come for tours, they ensure that Louisiana’s crawfish culture will endure for generations to come.
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Pulling crawfish traps at Kelly's Landing Agritours & Museum
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The museum at Kelly's Landing AgriTours & Museum features a vast collection of John Deere tractor memorabilia
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Farmer Kelly Hundly regales visitors with stories about life on the farm, spiced with real passion for what he does.
Six miles north of Crowley lies Kelly’s Landing AgriTours & Museum, where Kelly and wife Lynn treat visitors to a journey through time and technique on their farm. Farmer Kelly says “driving on the highway you might see a boat on the pond, or a tractor plowing the field, but there’s much more than meets the eye when it comes to harvesting crawfish.” Visitors to the farm get a behind-the-scenes inspection of a real crawfish boat and an introduction to each step of the process, from prepping bait and setting traps, to seeing the yield of a trap full of crawfish. At Kelly’s Landing, guests will also find one of the largest collections of John Deere tractor memorabilia, which Kelly fondly refers to as his “toys.” As they explore the expansive, 80x80 building bursting with antique farm machinery, Kelly regales them with humorous stories that reflect a life spent on the farm, spiced with real passion for what he does. No Cajun Harvest Country experience would be complete without a home-cooked meal; Kelly and Lynn prepare a feast including crawfish étouffée, jambalaya, gumbo, or crawfish boils when the season is at its height.
Crawfish Nets in the Water
Former mayor of Iota, Gerard Frey, and his wife, Dana, have been farming rice and crawfish in Iota for decades. At D&G Frey Farms they open the doors to visitors interested in learning the intricacies of Louisiana crawfish culture. The Freys’ tours educate guests through each season of the harvest, from planting rice in spring, to harvesting rice in summer, and refilling the fields again during fall to provide the food source for crawfish until the crustaceans are prime for the pickin’ come crawfish season—usually from late December through mid-June. Visitors will also get a tour of the plant where hundreds of pounds of tail meat are peeled, packed, and distributed daily, providing the Acadia region with the finest quality crawfish in the state. While you’re there, don’t pass on the opportunity to try one of D&G’s famous crawfish pies. Don’t be surprised to see some alligators cruising the ponds, either. But that’s a story for another time.
As Louisiana looks to the future, preserving and promoting crawfish farming heritage is becoming more important than ever, and Acadia parish boasts opportunities for education and exploration in the heart of Cajun Harvest Country. Learn more at acadiatourism.com.
