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Message
re: Crawfish peeling plants are empty of workers, all hope lost - Here we Go!! $$$$$
Posted on 3/12/26 at 12:52 pm to Midtiger farm
Posted on 3/12/26 at 12:52 pm to Midtiger farm
Dang. 300 hours in one month only to get $5,400. That would suck.
0
Posted on 3/12/26 at 1:10 pm to tigerfoot
quote:
According to the BLS there were 88,000 unemployed people in Louisiana in December. Start hiring some of them.
working isn’t in the plans for most of those.
Then cut their gubment benefits.
Posted on 3/12/26 at 1:11 pm to Bourre
quote:
Cut off welfare and food stamps to able bodied men and women....
60% of the women I see eating $10/lb crawfish at Sammy's have IPhones that are newer than mine with screens bigger than mine and appear to be on some form of government assistance.
Maybe get them to kick in and peel some crawfish?
Posted on 3/12/26 at 1:26 pm to The Baker
quote:
Looks like they arent paid by the hr, they're paid by the bag.
They are paid by the pound of tail meat or $19.74/hr . Most workers choose the pound wage because they are so good at peeling crawfish they make more money
Like 3 people in this thread know what they are talking about and you aren't one of them
Posted on 3/12/26 at 1:28 pm to Midtiger farm
quote:
$19.74/hr
so not $20-$30 like you said.
Posted on 3/12/26 at 1:29 pm to UptownJoeBrown
quote:
We need to slowly ween people off welfare benefits.
You'd be in Some trouble then.
Posted on 3/12/26 at 1:31 pm to The Baker
quote:
so not $20-$30 like you said.
They are if by the pound and actually I said $18-25 - thats where I got the $5400/month
So when are you applying?
Posted on 3/12/26 at 1:32 pm to Shexter
quote:
they will fill up tractor-trailer loads of these crawfish, send ‘em down to Mexico, get ‘em peeled and bring ‘em back.”
Problem solved. next.
Posted on 3/12/26 at 1:33 pm to captainahab
quote:the processors should be recruiting at all the juicy crab places.
60% of the women I see eating $10/lb crawfish at Sammy's have IPhones that are newer than mine with screens bigger than mine and appear to be on some form of government assistance.
Posted on 3/12/26 at 1:50 pm to Midtiger farm
quote:
They are if by the pound and actually I said $18-25 - thats where I got the $5400/month
So when are you applying?
LSU
This LSU report says a lb of tail meat goes for $12.75lb but whole product goes for $3.35/lb. Assuming 6lbs of whole product for 1 lb of tail meat... sounds like peeling is a dumb economic decision in general.
Posted on 3/12/26 at 1:50 pm to Churchill
What company?
Posted on 3/12/26 at 1:57 pm to The Baker
quote:
whole product goes for $3.35/lb.
peeler price is $1.25 right now and field run is $2.50 - so washed/lightly graded is $3.25 retail
Posted on 3/12/26 at 2:03 pm to Midtiger farm
quote:
Based on conversations with processors, the average price received for a pound of tail meat in 2025 was approximately $12.75 per pound while the average price for a pound of whole-boiled product was $3.25 per pound.
why peel at all?
ETA nvm..
They are buying unwashed/ crawfish for 1.25?
using the same 6lb to 1lb assumption thats $7.5 per lb, then selling for 12.75. rough profit of $5 per lb
...they give the peelers $0.25 per lb?
This post was edited on 3/12/26 at 2:14 pm
Posted on 3/12/26 at 2:06 pm to The Baker
quote:
why peel at all?
what do you want to do with small crawfish that the live market doesn't want
Where are people going to get crawfish tails for other dishes they cook with crawfish? Where are they going to get crawfish meat when crawfish are not in season?
Posted on 3/12/26 at 6:04 pm to Shexter
The numbers getting thrown around here for how much these peelers are getting paid per hour, and how much they can peel is way off.
Workers who peel the craw fish get paid the equivalent of $2.25 to $2.65 per lb of tail meat.
They must be able to produce a minimum 3.5lbs per hour. If you can peel 5 or 6 lbs an hour you generally get a bonus per lb. This is also around the maximum output an experienced peeler can produce.
No one can produce 20+ lbs an hour
Workers who peel the craw fish get paid the equivalent of $2.25 to $2.65 per lb of tail meat.
They must be able to produce a minimum 3.5lbs per hour. If you can peel 5 or 6 lbs an hour you generally get a bonus per lb. This is also around the maximum output an experienced peeler can produce.
No one can produce 20+ lbs an hour
Posted on 3/12/26 at 6:35 pm to The Baker
quote:
why peel at all? ETA nvm.. They are buying unwashed/ crawfish for 1.25? using the same 6lb to 1lb assumption thats $7.5 per lb, then selling for 12.75. rough profit of $5 per lb ...they give the peelers $0.25 per lb?
Rough profit $5 per pound for peeled crawfish meat for the processor? No….
Yes, on average it takes about 6 pounds of live crawfish to produce 1 pound of meat, so $1.25 per lb of live crawfish would be $7.50 in product cost to yield 1 pound of meat. But you failed to include the labor to peel the crawfish, other processing plant operating costs - electricity, water, packaging, ice, coolers, freezers, transportation, insurance ….other fixed & operating cost to run a processing plant plus some profit margin.
As a general rule, the wholesale cost of a pound of peeled Louisiana crawfish tails is usually 10 to 12 times the cost per pound the processor paid the farmer or wild crawfisherman for the live crawfish.
Why peel? Good Question. Crawfish processing first developed in the 1950s as a salvage industry - buyer had to do something with the live crawfish he didn’t sell on the weekend - live crawfish are a perishable product with a shelf life of several days. So the unsold live crawfish were cooked, peeled, and sold to grocery stores or restaurants in hopes the wholesale buyer wouldn’t take a big financial loss on the sacks of live crawfish he didn’t sell (move) that weekend.
Obviously, that’s not case today…..but it’s how the commercial crawfish peeling industry started.
Posted on 3/12/26 at 6:37 pm to Shexter
quote:
Strain also said the best thing people can do for the industry right now is eat more crawfish.
I will eat plenty at $2.59 lb boiled.
Posted on 3/12/26 at 6:38 pm to Shexter
“upon us all, a little rain must fall…”
Posted on 3/12/26 at 7:23 pm to CrawDude
quote:Thanks for the explanation
Rough profit $5 per pound for peeled crawfish meat for the processor? No….
Yes, on average it takes about 6 pounds of live crawfish to produce 1 pound of meat, so $1.25 per lb of live crawfish would be $7.50 in product cost to yield 1 pound of meat. But you failed to include the labor to peel the crawfish, other processing plant operating costs - electricity, water, packaging, ice, coolers, freezers, transportation, insurance ….other fixed & operating cost to run a processing plant plus some profit margin.
I know there are the other production costs. I was intentionally focusing on the portion to peelers in my comment. I apologize for saying “rough profit” instead of whats left over after product cost.
How much profit margin is there in actuality? after everything
Posted on 3/12/26 at 8:47 pm to The Baker
quote:
I know there are the other production costs. I was intentionally focusing on the portion to peelers in my comment. I apologize for saying “rough profit” instead of whats left over after product cost.
How much profit margin is there in actuality? after everything
Honestly, I don’t know. I’m more familiar with the production side than the processing side.That said I would be surprised if the true profit margin on peeled tail meat at the processing is that much - maybe less than 10% of their wholesale price but I may be off base. They are limited as to how much profit margin they can include b/c they have to compete with imported Chinese crawfish meat, and other seafood products (shrimp, crabs, oysters, fish).
And I have no idea the markup that retail sellers of Louisiana crawfish tail meat (e.g. grocery stores) have compared to what they pay the wholesalers (peeling plants) for the meat. I know it’s not uncommon for grocery stores in south LA to use LA crawfish meat as a “loss leader” (sold at cost or below) during crawfish season to draw customers into the store to buy other stuff.
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