Agriculture

William Stutts put his first crop in the ground when he was a junior in high school. The year was 1977, and that crop comprised some 100 acres. Now, 33 years later, Stutts farms more than 1,300 acres in West Carroll Parish, and he does it exceptionally well. So well, he was named the 2010 Louisiana Farmer of the Year.

The Louisiana Agricultural Consultants Association inducted Dr. Ben Legendre, LSU AgCenter sugarcane scientist, into the Agricultural Hall of Fame during the organization’s annual conference recently (Feb. 10-12).

The annual Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry’s Shade Tree Sale will run from March 1 through March 5. In the Lafayette and Opelousas area, the sale will start on Feb. 27 and end March 5.

Belinda Marie Lege
September 21, 1958 ~ February 1, 2010

Abbeville—Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Friday, February 5, 2010 at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville honoring the life of Belinda Marie Lege, 51, who died Monday, February 1, 2010 at Teche Regional Medical Center.
She will be laid to rest at St. Paul Cemetery with Deacon David Vaughn officiating the services. Pallbearers will be Chad Lege, Anna Whalen, John Girouard, Daniel Goodwin, Blake Johnson and Dawn Soirez. Honorary pallbearer will be Patrick LeBlanc.

Rice farmers and a Lake Charles rice mill are donating rice for Haitians to eat after the massive earthquake hit last week.

BATON ROUGE – A group of 23 Louisiana farmers, including one married couple and a father and son, recently attained the status of master farmer – a title that means they have not only learned the latest in conservation practices, but they are implementing them on their farms.

They received their certificates, along with a 12-inch by 20-inch sign for their property that says Certified Master Farmer, Jan. 14 at the 64th annual meeting of the Louisiana Association of Conservation Districts in Baton Rouge.