March 2020 Articles

Archives by Months

Louisiana Congressman Ralph Abraham has been best friend of agriculture

Louisiana Congressman Ralph Abraham has been best friend of agriculture Source: news@lfbf.org By Bobby Skeen, Louisiana Cotton & Grain Association The recent announcement of Congressman Ralph Abraham’s retirement has come as a bittersweet moment for us in the agricultural industry in Louisiana. While we are all glad that he will be returning to his beloved home in Richland Parish, Abraham will leave a huge void to be filled in Washington, D.C. Abraham has been the best friend to everyone involved in agriculture across our state and we will all miss "Doc's" representation. “Doc” put a self-imposed term limit on himself when he announced that he was running for the 5th Congressional District seat in 2014. He has never been a typical politician, but has always been a man of great character and kept his pledge to serve three terms. Selfishly, we all want him to stay, but our commitment to him was to support him in every way, including this one. We look back on Abraham’s time in service with great pride and celebration of so many outstanding accomplishments for Louisiana agriculture. Abraham and his amazing staff created large scale trade with new export markets, expanded crop insurance and fought for disaster relief measures after an unprecedented amount of flooding and rainfall. He also supported the much-needed market facilitation program for depressed prices due to trade-related issues. Abraham was instrumental in crafting the 2018 Farm Bill, by far the most important legislation for the 5th District, the largest row crop producing district in the nation. As the only Louisiana congressional member serving on the House Committee on Agriculture, Abraham leaves a lasting legacy of getting cotton back into the Farm Bill under the newly implemented seed cotton program, which is vital to the members of our organization so deeply rooted in the cotton industry. To say that Abraham has been a great friend and a great congressman would be an understatement. He has been wonderful to work with. We simply cannot give him enough accolades, nor can we thank his wonderful staff enough. The members of his congressional staff are as efficient as any in Congress. From his office scheduler to his chief of staff, they go above and beyond to make sure every constituent feels they are engaged in the issues impacting them. We thank Emma Herrock, who has served as his scheduler since Abraham came to Congress, for always making time for us. His policy staffers, especially Heinz Kaiser, Allen Cambon and legislative director Ted Verrill have been like old friends. Lastly, his Chief of Staff Luke Letlow has been crucial in Doc’s tenure in guiding the staff and serving as quite the liaison between the office and the district. Luke understands the district intimately as a native and has been there every step of the way. As we are well into the last stretch of our favorite congressman’s last term, our wishes to "Doc" and his staff are to simply finish strong. We know that he certainly will. Godspeed, Congressman Abraham, to you and the entire staff. Thanks for everything. Bobby Skeen is executive vice president of the Louisiana Cotton & Grain Association.