The Louisiana Farm Bureau is made up of volunteer leaders at the local, parish and statewide levels. Each parish has a parish Farm Bureau, with its own president and board members. 

 

MEET OUR PRESIDENT: 

Richard Fontenot

Richard Fontenot is the president of the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation; he was elected in 2024. Fontenot is a rice, crawfish and soybean farmer in Evangeline Parish.

LEAD BY FARMERS

FOR FARMERS

Fontenot is one of a five-member executive committee, made up of the president, first, second and third vice presidents and a secretary-treasurer. Eleven other members, representing geographical districts, form the Louisiana Farm Bureau Board of Directors. All members of the board and executive committee are elected by voting delegates sent to the annual convention each summer to vote on policy recommendations submitted by the local parish Farm Bureaus. The chairs of the Women's Leadership Committee and the Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee serve on the state board of directors in an ex-officio capacity.

 

2024-2025 Louisiana Farm Bureau Board of Directors

 

President Richard Fontenot

1st Vice-President Marty Wooldridge

2nd Vice-President Burch Pierce

3rd Vice-President Amelia Levin Kent

Secretary/Treasurer Mike Melancon

District I Board Member
Loyd Dodson

District I includes Caddo, Bossier, DeSoto, Red River, Sabine, Webster Claiborne and Bienville Parishes

District II Board Member Butch Oaks

District II includes Ouachita, Morehouse, Richland, Union, Caldwell, Lincoln and Jackson Parishes

District III Board Member
William Stutts

District III includes East Carroll, Franklin, Concordia, Madison, Tensas and  West Carroll Parishes

District IV Board Member Bill Cheek

District IV includes Rapides, Winn, LaSalle, Grant, Natchitoches and Catahoula Parishes

District V Board Member
BrYan Churchman

District V includes Evangeline, Allen, Beauregard and Vernon Parishes

District VI Board Member ted glaser

District VI includes Avoyelles, Pointe Coupee and St. Landry Parishes

District VII Board Member 
James “Bozo” Cox

District VII includes Acadia, Jeff Davis, Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes

District VIII Benson Langlinais

District VIII includes Vermilion, Lafayette, Iberia and St. Martin Parishes

District IX Board Member
John Thompson

District IX includes East Baton Rouge, East & West Feliciana, Livingston, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington Parishes

District X Board Member Matthew Gravois

District X includes Ascension, Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard, Plaquemines, St. Charles, St. John and East & West St. James Parishes

District XI BOARD MEMBER
Bobby Simoneaux

District XI includes Assumption, Iberville, Lafourche, St. Mary, Terrebonne and West Baton Rouge Parishes

YOUNG FARMERS & RANCHERS CHAIR
Nicholas Gerace

 Women's Leadership Committee Chair Michele Simoneaux

Farmers Know Best

Commodity Advisory Committees

By seeking farmer input on specific issues, the Louisiana Farm Bureau has built a strong grassroots infrastructure to take on matters important to agriculture.

Our organization has Commodity Advisory Committees that meet regularly to discuss issues and make recommendations for change. Every commodity is represented with an advisory committee—from rice to cotton to wheat, soybeans and corn. These committees draft policy and then present that policy to the 18-member Louisiana Farm Bureau Board of Directors. If it is an issue of national concern, the recommendations are forwarded to the American Farm Bureau, or in some cases, the issues are discussed directly with members of the state's congressional delegation. Each committee and their chairman are listed below.

 

  • Beekeepers: Warren Hoag

  • Coastal: Benson Langlinais

  • Cotton: Ben Guthrie

  • Crawfish: J.B. Hanks

  • Dairy: Susie Sharkey

  • Equine: John Bourdreaux

  • Forestry: Jody Vidrine

  • Labor: Katie Ramagos Nunez

  • Livestock: Amelia Kent

  • Market Produce: Arthur Lirette

  • Nurserymen: Joseph Robert Barry

  • Pecan: Lynn Lofton

  • Rice: Allen McLain

  • Oyster: Carolyn Falgout

  • Poultry: Paul Johns

  • Shrimp: vacant

  • Soy, Wheat & Feed Grain: Donald Schexnayder

  • Sugar: Bryan Simon

  • Sweet Potato: Jason Ables

 

Leadership from the Grassroots

Each parish Farm Bureau has their own board of directors, who creates the grassroots leadership that drives our organization to its success. Below are the lists of parish presidents.

 

  • Acadia: Mike Habetz

  • Allen: Thomas Mayes

  • Ascension: Frankie Sotile Jr.

  • Assumption: Lance Gaudet

  • Avoyelles: Derek Dauzat

  • Beauregard: David Smith

  • Bienville: Philip Towns

  • Bossier: Loyd Dodson

  • Caddo: Marty Wooldridge

  • Calcasieu: Willie Danos

  • Caldwell: Randy Rentz

  • Cameron: Jake McCain

  • Catahoula: Burch Pierce

  • Claiborne: Mitch Marsalis

  • Concordia: Wil Miller

  • DeSoto: James McBride

  • East Baton Rouge: Bob Kelly

  • East Carroll: Phillip Tomlinson

  • East St. James: Matthew Gravois

  • Evangeline: Scotty Fontenot

  • Feliciana: John Thompson

  • Franklin: Adam Faulk

  • Grant: Ryan Yerby

  • Iberia: Benson Langlinais

  • Iberville: Katie Ramagos Nunez

  • Jackson: Robert Moore

  • Jefferson, St. Bernard, Plaquemine & Orleans:
    Patrick Becnel, Jr

  • Jefferson Davis: Kent Brown

  • Lafayette: Kirk Martin

  • Lafourche: Rene` Hebert Jr.

  • LaSalle: Keith Ganey

  • Lincoln: Jim Frasier

  • Livingston: Charles Kemp

  • Madison: Robert Warren

  • Morehouse: Damian Bollich

  • Natchitoches: Steve Roberts

  • Ouachita: Butch Oaks

  • Pointe Coupee: Curt Engemann

  • Rapides: Bill Cheek

  • Red River: Jason Anderson

  • Richland: Hunter Fife

  • Sabine: Paul Morris

  • St. Charles: Joan Robbins

  • St. Helena: Darrel Hoover

  • St. John: Cindy Perret

  • St. Landry: Joseph Boudreaux

  • St. Martin: Mike Melancon

  • St. Mary: Mark Chauvin

  • St. Tammany: Fred Bass

  • Tangipahoa: Justin Roberts

  • Tensas: Jeff Lee

  • Terrebonne: John Walther

  • Union: Tommy Bennett

  • Vermilion: Bryan Simon

  • Vernon: Rusty Bailes

  • Washington: Nickey Smith

  • Webster: Joe Lynn Robinson

  • West Baton Rouge: Donald Schexnayder

  • West Carroll: Richard Costello

  • West St.James: Charles Gravois, III

  • Winn: Jesse Dyson