NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – It’s no secret that American farmers, including crawfish farmers like David Savoy, rely on migrant labor.

“Our main concern is labor. We don’t have the labor anymore,” said David Savoy, a crawfish farmer for over two decades and president of the Louisiana Promotion and Research Board.

When we visited Savoy’s crawfish farm in Richard, Louisiana, back in January, it was early in the crawfish season. Now, closer to the season’s peak, producers have to process their catch. For that, they need foreign labor secured through the H-2B visa program, but those producers are struggling to bring in migrant workers this year.

USDA secretary says administration working to ease farm labor restrictions for Louisiana crawfish, shrimp industries

“In the state, our 20 major processors employ anywhere from 40 to 150 people. Only 15 of the 20 processors so far have gotten any labor,” said Mike Strain, commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry.

Commissioner Mike Strain said the state needs about 2,000 H-2B workers. Strain says last year’s federal government shutdown delayed work visa applications. On top of that, the program is capped, allowing domestic workers to apply. The visa limit for the first half of this year has already been reached, and Strain says if the cap isn’t lifted, Louisiana’s crawfish industry could be in trouble.

“If we don’t get these workers in, the bottom line the farmers will lose in excess of $120 million to $125 million,” said Commissioner Strain.

“We’re working to make a very quick change, as quickly as we can to basically open up the market so these labor questions can be resolved. There’s a question of how expensive it is and we’re working to bring the cost down for farmers, but just getting the labor, we’re really singularly focused on this labor issue,” said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

MORE: Louisiana crawfish industry faces worker shortage after DHS caps seasonal visas

On Thursday, Secretary Rollins came to Fox 8’s studios to discuss the labor shortage. When asked if the Trump administration will lift or raise the cap for H-2B visas, Secretary Rollins said that is a decision the White House cannot make.

“So the administration cannot remove the cap. That’s a Congressionally authorized statute, so the Congress has to do that. What we can do and what we’re looking to do is changing some of the rules within that to perhaps allow other programs that these farmers can apply for that are outside of the current restricted cap,” Secretary Rollins said.

With just weeks left in crawfish season, a multimillion-dollar industry hopes that help arrives in time.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Click Here to report it. Please include the headline.

Subscribe to the Fox 8 YouTube channel.

Copyright 2026 WVUE. All rights reserved.

Louisiana is often referred to as the “Festival Capital of the World,” earning this title because of the hundreds of festivals that take place annually throughout the state.

More than 400 festivals take place each year in Louisiana, ranging from cultural and food celebrations to music and seasonal events.

Three festivals, Rougarou Fest, Jazz Fest and Beignet Fest, were named among the top 10 festivals in various categories by USA Today.

Rougarou Fest in Houma named on USA Today’s 10Best Cultural Festivals

Rougarou Fest in Houma was named by USA Today’s 10Best Reader’s Choice Awards as the seventh best cultural festival.

Rougarou Fest is a free, family-friendly festival that celebrates the rich folklore of Southeast Louisiana. The Rougarou is a folklore creature that’s described as having the head of a wolf or dog and the body of a human, like a werewolf. Stories of the Rougarou have been used by Cajun parents for generations to get children to behave.

The event, which takes place at 86 Valhi Blvd. in Houma, showcases live music, cultural activities, children’s activities, Cajun food, the Krewe Ga Rou parade and more. This year, the festival will take place from Oct. 23 to Oct. 25.

Here are the 10 best cultural festivals in the U.S. according to USA Today:

1. Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
2. Black Wall Street Rally (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
3. Dublin Irish Festival (Dublin, Ohio)
4. Fyr Bal Festival (Ephraim, Wisconsin)
5. Anchorage Fur Rendezvous (Anchorage, Alaska)
6. Black Food Truck Festival (Charleston, South Carolina)
7. Rougarou Fest (Houma, Louisiana)
8. World Food & Music Festival (Des Moines, Iowa)
9. Celebrate Nashville Cultural Festival (Nashville, Tennessee)
10. Celtic Music and Heritage Festival (St. Augustine, Florida)

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival named among 10 best music festivals by USA Today

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, also known as Jazz Fest, was named the seventh best music festival on USA Today’s 10Best Reader’s Choice Awards.

This festival is a legendary celebration of music, featuring some of the biggest names in music, with this year’s lineup featuring the Eagles, Stevie Nicks, Rod Stewart, Kings of Leon, Lorde, Tyler Childers and Earth, Wind and Fire, just to name a few.

The festival also puts the spotlight on local legends in the genres of jazz, blues, gospel, rock, R&B and Zydeco. This event is a great way for attendees to experience the rich musical heritage of New Orleans.

This year, the festival takes place on two separate weekends, from April 23 until May 3. In addition to music, there will also be authentic Louisiana cuisine, artisan crafts and cultural displays.

These are the 10 best music festivals in the U.S. according to USA Today:

1. Musikfest (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania)
2. Mile 0 Fest (Key West, Florida)
3. Joshua Tree Music Festival (Joshua Tree, California)
4. Festival Napa Valley (Napa, California)
5. Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion (Bristol, Tennessee and Bristol, Virginia)
6. Summerfest (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
7. New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (New Orleans, Louisiana)
8. Waterfront Blues Festival (Portland, Oregon)
9. Lollapalooza (Chicago, Illinois)
10. Ohana Festival (Dana Point, California)

• Louisiana lawmakers are considering a bill to create a recreational alligator hunting season.
• The proposed season would be open to 5,000 lottery-selected hunters annually, with a two-gator limit.
• Louisiana’s wild alligator population has grown to over 2 million, a significant conservation success.
• Recreational hunters would be limited to using a hook and line from land.

Louisiana may expand its wild alligator harvesting opportunities to recreational hunters if the Legislature passes a bill that secured unanimous approval in a committee hearing March 11.

Franklin state Sen. Robert Allain’s Senate Bill 244 would authorize the Louisiana Wildlife Commission to create a recreational season that would be open to 5,000 hunters annually, each with a two-gator limit.

The state already has a commercial hunting season for alligators, which is chronicled in the popular “Swamp People” TV reality series.

“We think the time is right,” Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Tyler Bosworth testified during the Senate Natural Resources Committee hearing. “We want to provide a recreational opportunity for the common folk of Louisiana.”

Louisiana’s alligator population has exploded in the past 50 years from fewer than 100,000 to more than 3 million today. Of those, about 2 million are wild with another 1 million farmed.

That’s at least twice the population in Florida, the state with the second most number of alligators.

And their Louisiana numbers have grown throughout the state where they can be commonly spotted from Lake Martin in Breaux Bridge to Caddo and Cross lakes in Shreveport to Caldwell Parish in northeastern Louisiana.

“This is a conservation success story on the highest level,” LDWF general counsel Garrett Cole said during the hearing. “This would create a true recreational opportunity outside our commercial season.”

Garrett said hunters would compete for hunting tags through a lottery will statewide opportunities. Recreational hunters would be limited to hook and line harvesting from land. No gators could be taken by boat as commercial hunters are allowed to do.

If approved, the first season could take place beginning Oct. 1.

Louisiana gator, frog delicacies: In Louisiana, frogs are delicacy on par with alligators, crawfish: What do they taste like?

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.