Iberville Parish sugarcane farmer named King Sucrose LXXVIII
The Louisiana Sugarcane Festival has a new King Sucrose. It’s Al Landry Jr. of White Castle.
The Daily Iberian reported the news in its July 30, 2019 edition. Here’s the report:
The Louisiana Sugar Cane Festival has a new King Sucrose. He was crowned Sunday at the official announcement party held at the home of David and Madeline Kessler in White Castle, according to a prepared statement.
King Sucrose LXXVIII is Alton “Al” Landry, a 56-year-old native and resident of White Castle. The 1980 graduate of White Castle High School graduated from Louisiana State University Agricultural Center in 1984 where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Ag Business.
Landry is a sixth-generation sugar cane producer who owns and operates Alton Landry Inc., a farm which he started in 1984. The 3,000 acres of sugar cane and soybeans is located in Iberville Parish.
Landry’s civic, community and agriculture involvement are evident in his various associations and volunteer efforts. He is an Iberville Parish Farm Bureau Board Member, past Farm Service Agency County Committee Member, member of the White Castle Fertilizer Cooperative and a member of the American Sugar Cane League. He is a graduate of the LSU Ag Leadership program and a member of Baton Rouge Assembly.
In 2016, Landry was an honoree in the Stars of Style, the premier fundraiser of the Louisiana Sugar Cane Festival. Landry’s experience and dedication to the Louisiana sugar cane industry doesn’t stop there. Recently, he voluntarily hosted a meeting with Governor John Bel Edwards and Agricultural Commissioner Dr. Mike Strain at his shop for all regional agricultural interests to open dialogue and communications about the challenges they face.
The Louisiana sugar cane breeding program also is important and he spends many hours assisting the program not only as a secondary station for increasing and distributing new sugar cane varieties to local producers but by aiding the program in the variety development nursery on his farm. This program assists scientists and breeders in future varietal selections that has kept the two-century old industry successful.
As a member of the American Sugar Cane League, Landry has traveled to Washington D.C. for the past eight years to help educate legislators and the USDA programs about the challenges the sugar industry faces and the importance of the Louisiana sugar cane industry to the national and global economy.
In 2018, he was selected as a participant in the Baton Rouge Best Dressed Charity Ball benefiting the American Cancer Society. His other interests include partnerships in L.L.&L. Properties, G&M Land Co., Walk-On’s Properties LLC and Landsaf LLC.
Landry has been married to Debbie Carona Landry for 26 years. With his family, they are active parishioners of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church. The couple has two children, 19-year-old Meredith and 22-year-old Griffon, who is about to finish his degree in Agricultural Economics at LSU. Working on the farm during his time off from school, Griffon plans to continue the Landry family’s sugar cane farming history.
