Just Who Is Class XI?
By Mike Danna
Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation Public Relations Director
This tour of Brazil marks my forth time traveling abroad with members of the LSU AgLeadership Development Program. Jim Monroe, who’s been shooting many of the photos and helping to produce the Brazilian edition of “This Week in Louisiana Agriculture,” has made three such trips.
When you spend two weeks in a foreign land with people, some you know and some you hope to know better, it’s inevitable you begin to notice little things about your traveling companions.
The AgLeadership program is a two-year course of study and those who participate usually do so because they want to take their game to the next level. That sounds like a cliché I know, but many farmers, like Errol Domingues and Jenni Peterman, hold positions in local government. Others serve on conservation district boards, are involved in commodity promotion efforts and some serve in Farm Bureau.
The mode of transportation on all these international visits is the tour bus. Ours is a big, green, and apparently grossly overweight monstrosity that dwarfs other vehicles in the country. (We were delayed 15 minutes Thursday morning while our bus driver paid the fine for being more than three-tons overweight.)
When the locals see such a bus driving through their town, they know it’s crammed with Americans eyeballing their culture. But that’s how we roll in America, right? Big and bad. Why? Because we can.
But the time onboard gives you a chance to see the countryside while engaging your fellow seatmates. I’m a reporter, and reporters, like farmers, spend years honing their craft. And like farming, reporting is all about observation. So here are a few observations.
Jennifer Young has an affinity for dogs. She made friends with some droopy hound hanging around the Cooperfibra Plant yesterday. I think the thing was genuinely glad to see her. She scratched its belly and rubbed its head. These actions are apparently universal no matter what language you speak. But she’s been a top dog breeder and trainer for years and is very good at it. Just ask the two Chocolate labs she smoozed this morning during our cattle ranch tour.
Bob Allen and his wife Joyce admit had they come to Brazil 25 years ago, they might have stayed. Bob’s a real John Wayne type and he and Joyce obviously work hard, diversifying their cattle operation in Pointe Coupee to cover all their economic bases. And the woman cans tomatoes for God’s sake. A woman like that’s a workingman’s dream.
Epney Brasher is a LDAF forester from Amite. Epney and I met in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. She helped TWILA tell the story of the tremendous losses the forestry industry suffered. Since then she’s been the lead spokesperson for the department on forestry-related issues. And she’s got a dry wit. She says she never smells her food before she eats it and loves a good bowl of black beans. I bet she can use a mean chainsaw too.
Then there’s Brian and Amy Spillman. Brian’s a sheriff’s deputy in West Feliciana and a nuisance alligator trapper. (That’s obviously more of a problem than one might think.) Amy sells insurance and is an impeccable dresser. Her mix of cargo slacks and tropical linen blouses make her look like she could host a safari show on the Discovery Channel. It’s 95 degrees out and she looks cool as ever. And she’s a damn good photographer too. She got the only photo of a parrot high in a tree during Thursday’s ranch visit. I wonder who she gets that from?
Jenni Peterman is a true farmer and rancher. She’s also a justice of the peace. I’m not sure if she carries a gun with that job, but either way she has a way of improving the conversation when she speaks. And if she does carry a gun you can bet she knows how to use it.
Jenni’s seatmate, Donna Morgan, manages program aspects of the LSU AgCenter’s Master Farmer program. She too brings a lot to the conversation. Master Farmer is a very complex program, one the state and Louisiana farmers need to be successful. It’s obvious Donna knows her profession and is on the fast-track at the AgCenter.
Amelia Levin kind of reminds me of my friend and fellow Class 8 alum Gene Adolph. When you engage either of them in conversation, you’d better be ready to put up or shut up. Amelia raises cattle and hay and manages forestry and nursery interests. Gene and Amelia both shatter the stereotypes of what most people think about when they hear the word farmer. Amelia holds a degree from Wellesley College in economics and religion. Gene, a sugar producer from Napoleonville, holds a degree in theology and philosophy. Take that, Old McDonald.
A few minutes with Scott Shepard and you know how every farmer feels about his profession; proud, independent, stressed, hardworking. He’s a “kick-the-ground-every-now-and-then-and-utter-a-subtle-profanity” kind of guy. He’s obviously a good farmer, and like all producers, has definite concerns about the future of his industry.
Errol Domingues. Do I have to say it? The guy has kept us in stitches since before we landed. Every AgLeadership Class has…no, “needs” an Errol Domingues. In my class, Class 8, it was Danny Naquin. In Class 10 it was Bill Sherman. These guys don’t take things too seriously, but when they have to, look out. Don’t let the comedic exterior fool you. Errol sits at the front of the bus for a reason.