BATON ROUGE, La. — By: Kenneth Gautreaux, LSU AgCenter
A forester, a former LSU AgCenter administrator with an entomological background and an advocate for Louisiana’s sugarcane industry were inducted into the Louisiana Agriculture Hall of Distinction. The induction took place at the L’Auberge Hotel in Baton Rouge Feb. 26.
The inductees are Walsh Timber Company President David Cupp, of Natchitoches; Rogers Leonard, the former AgCenter program leader for plant and animal sciences, of St. Joseph; and Jim Simon, general manager of the American Sugar Cane League since 2004, of New Iberia.
A joint effort of the LSU AgCenter, Louisiana Radio Network, Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation and Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, the Louisiana Agriculture Hall of Distinction honors individuals who have made significant contributions to agriculture or agriculture-related industries. Previous inductees have represented farming, ranching, forestry, aquaculture, education and agribusiness.
Cupp was raised in the Hudson River Valley of New York. His family vacationed often in the mountains of Vermont, and it was there he learned to appreciate the environment, especially the trees that covered the landscape.
After receiving two degrees from Virginia Tech University, his first job was with Boise Cascade. After spending five years there, he began working for the Walsh Timber Company in Zwolle. Cupp and his company are responsible for managing more than 150,000 acres of timberland that produces more than 2.5 million tons of timber per year.
His job has him working daily with landowners, loggers and mills that produce forest products. Earning trust from these entities is a crucial component to success and a key to sustaining longevity in the timber industry.
“We want that long-term business,” Cupp said. “We work in a small area here. If you violate that trust, guess what? You’re out of business. We want that reputation of ethics and moral and doing the right thing.”
Leonard grew up in St. Joseph in Tensas Parish. Working summers at the LSU AgCenter Northeast Research Station gave him an introduction into agriculture and laid the foundation for a long career.
Leonard started his postsecondary education at Northeast Louisiana University with intentions of being a pharmacist. He transferred to Louisiana Tech to study agricultural engineering. He eventually made his way down to LSU in Baton Rouge, graduating in agronomy. He earned his master’s and doctorate from LSU, focusing on entomology.
Leonard has described his career as a circular path — his college days spent in school and scouting fields, his time with the AgCenter focusing on research, extension and administration, and his later years, returning to his roots as a consultant.
“Louisiana agriculture remains the largest industry in our state and will for the foreseeable future,” Leonard said. “You will have fewer farmers. The farms will get larger. Someone will always farm the land, but food and fiber are the backbone of Louisiana.”
Simon was raised in Franklin, where his father served as county agent for St. Mary Parish. His first job out of college was in the banking industry, and this job allowed him to venture into agriculture, as some of his clients were farmers and millers of sugarcane.
Since 2004, Simon has been the general manager of the American Sugar cane League, an organization that serves as one voice for Louisiana sugarcane producers, millers and refiners. Two of the primary duties of the league include variety development research and lobbying for the domestic sugar industry.
Sugarcane has been commercially grown in Louisiana since the 1790s and is the largest row crop in terms of value in the state.
“It provides almost a $4 billion economic impact to our state,” Simon said. “We have about 450 cane-farming families and the 11 operating raw sugar mills that produce sugar in Louisiana. So it’s critically important from a financial perspective, from a historical perspective. It’s part of what we do.”
For more information regarding the Louisiana Agriculture Hall of Distinction event, contact Renee Martin with the Louisiana Radio Network at 225-291-2727 or office@louisianaradionetwork.com.