Nominations for inductees into the 2019 Louisiana Agriculture Hall of Distinction are being accepted now through Nov. 19. Selected individuals will be recognized during a banquet at L’Auberge Hotel in Baton Rouge on March 7, 2019.
The nomination form can be obtained by clicking here or through any parish Louisiana State University AgCenter Extension office.
A joint effort of the Louisiana Radio Network, the LSU AgCenter, the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, and Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation, the Louisiana Agriculture Hall of Distinction is designed to honor individuals who have made significant contributions to agriculture or agriculture-related industries. Nominations can represent farming, ranching, forestry, aquaculture, fisheries, education or agribusiness.
“There are many individuals in our state who have dedicated their lives to improving Louisiana agriculture,” LSU Vice President for Agriculture Bill Richardson said in a news release. “This industry continues to provide our food and fiber and is an essential part of our state’s economy. Our state owes much to agriculture, and this event recognizes those men and women who have made an everlasting contribution to it.”
The Fifth Annual Louisiana Agriculture Hall of Distinction recently honored Margie Jenkins and the late Pierre “Pete” Lanaux as its 2018 inductees, recognizing both for their extraordinary contributions to Louisiana agribusiness.
Jenkins, of Amite, is the first woman inducted into the hall and recognized nationally for her expertise in the nursery and landscape business. At 96, her knowledge spans hundreds of varieties of plants, as well as timber harvesting, dairy cattle and sheep.
Lanaux was one of the state’s most successful sugarcane farmers. His career spanned seven decades, beginning in 1945 when he started farming in Edgard in St. John the Baptist Parish. Lanaux passed away in February at the age of 93.
For more information, contact Don Molino with the Louisiana Radio Network at 225-291-2727, ext. 210, or don@louisianaradionetwork.com or Bobby Soileau with the LSU AgCenter at 225-578-3659 or bsoileau@agcenter.lsu.edu.