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(06/06/16) BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana and Mississippi county agent associations held their joint annual professional improvement conference in Natchez, Mississippi, on May 24 to 26.
During the meeting, the Louisiana County Agricultural Agents Association installed new officers. They are: Bobby Bingham, president; Carol Pinnell-Alison, president-elect; Blair Hebert, vice president; Al Orgeron, secretary; and Kurt Guidry, treasurer. New board members are Craig Roussel, Mariah Simoneaux and Will Afton for the Southeast Region/Campus District; Kylie Miller, Sebe Brown and Lee Faulk for the Northern District; and Jeremy Hebert, Vincent Deshotel and Stuart Gauthier for the Central/Southwest District.
Achievement Awards were presented to Sara Shields, a county agent in Pointe Coupee and state coordinator of the Louisiana Master Gardener program, and Jeremy Hebert, a country agent in Acadia Parish. Distinguished Service Awards went to Donna Morgan, a county agent in Rapides and Grant parishes and area coordinator for the Louisiana Master Farmer Program, and to Terry Washington, an agent in Rapides Parish who has worked for the both LSU AgCenter and Southern University Ag Center in the past 37 years.
The Louisiana group also held a poster contest. The first place winner was “On-Farm Evaluation of Moddus: A Newly Labeled Sugarcane Ripener” by Al Orgeron, Kenneth Gravois, Jimmy Flanagan, Mike Hebert and Blair Hebert. The second place winner was “Conservation Education and Demonstration through the Louisiana Master Farmer Program” by Donna Morgan, Ernest Girouard, James Hendrix and Allen Hogan.
Conference attendees heard from Fred Whitford, of Purdue University, about sprayer calibration. They also attended breakout sessions on topics including feral hog control, spray tank cleanout, protecting homes from termites, cattle health, organic horticulture, the Louisiana Master Gardener program and new Worker Protection Standard regulations.
Charlie Melancon, who was recently appointed secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, gave attendees an update on activities in his department.
Attendees also had the chance to tour Angelina Plantation, Sunnyside Plantation, Sidney Murray Hydroelectric Station, Double C Ranch and Drax Biomass-Amite BioEnergy.
