Three individuals who have made contributions to advancing agriculture in Louisiana are the newest inductees into the Louisiana Agriculture Hall of Distinction. One inductee, former North Louisiana Congressman and Physician Dr. Ralph Abraham served the largest agricultural district in the nation.
“Every chance I got, I carried the same message that the Louisiana farmer or rancher. They’re national security because food security is national security.”
The Richland Parish native authored the 2018 farm bill and ensured Iraq remained a reliable destination for U-S rice.
Stephen Crawford of Concordia Parish was recognized for his extensive career in protecting agriculture. He aided the LSU AgCenter’s efforts of developing to prevent and disrupt the growth of intrusive weeds.
“One of the previous inductees came to the experiment stations and said, we need to look at some of these burn herbicides that you’re doing. So we took to the field and did an awful lot of off station research to identify the problem. To build programs to deal with them.”
Crawford has been a key developer of herbicides for cotton, corn, soybeans, and rice.
Dr. Leodrey Williams became the first black inductee in the hall of distinction. Since 2001, Williams has led the Southern University Agricultural and Research Extension. Establishing the newest campus was challenging, but Williams knew it would see great dividends.
“We had staff in every parish of the state. We were still in multiple locations in the state. It helped get educational programs and involvement in various locations.”
Since its inception, the Hall of Distinction has inducted 31 individuals.
