Louisiana Farm Bureau Podcast

Louisiana Farm Bureau President Richard Fontenot joins the Louisiana Farm Bureau Podcast from his farm to talk about the realities of spring planting, the uncertainty facing agriculture in 2026, and the work being done on behalf of farmers at every level. From Farm Bill conversations in Washington, D.C., to the success of Louisiana Farm Bureau’s Rooted in Leadership Conference and the upcoming Membership Monday push, Fontenot shares why engagement, relationships and grassroots advocacy matter more than ever. He also looks ahead to convention season and previews new efforts to support farmers through mental health awareness.

Creators and Guests

Host
Karl Wiggers
Digital Media Specialist at Louisiana Farm Bureau

What is Louisiana Farm Bureau Podcast?

Louisiana Farm Bureau is constantly working protect and promote Louisiana's farmers, ranchers, and rural residents. This podcast exists to share stories of those farmers with interviews about their farms and issues important to them. Here, we will also share about the work Farm Bureau is doing on their behalf on issues related to public policy from the parish level all the way to the halls of Congress in D.C.

Hey, everybody, welcome to the Louisiana Farm Bureau podcast. I'm your host, Karl Wiggers, and I'm not in the studio today. I am on the farm of Louisiana Farm Bureau President Richard Fontenot.. thanks for having us.
Well, thank you for the invite. Look forward to seeing what we're going to cover today.
I invited you to the podcast. You invited me to the farm. It's pretty nice. Little.
It's a balance.
I like it, I like it. This is way more comfortable to me than the studio. I'm assuming you as well.
It's, It's an opportunity I don't get as often as I used to.
It's nice. It's nice to be right here. You asked me where you. We were talking about this before when we were setting this up, and he was like, I'm coming to Baton Rouge. And I said, no, I'd rather come to your farm. And he did not. He did not fight me on that. Weird. So, Mr. Richard, it's, you know, we're getting into planting season. The drill is right behind us. Parked today because it's raining, but not raining actively. But it's been raining. Been wet. Spring season is here. Y'all are hot and heavy. Getting ready crops in the ground. But you've been busy. You're not been hot and heavy until it's been hot and heavy season for you. Probably 18 months, but it's been a it's been a busy season for you the last few months, for sure. How's the spring been for you?
I tell you what, it's been pretty interesting in spring. A lot of us were a little drier than normal. So we had some opportunities to do a little field work in February and March that we don't typically get to do. Right. We have a lot of crop that went in the ground, you know, a lot of part of February, first weeks of March. And then we had the big rain. It set us back. We some folks got more than that as we were probably 6 to 7in here. So it kind of set us back a little bit. But we got some crop in but at the same time still traveling to DC, still working on, the House. Our committee, you know, brought out the farm bill 2.0. Right. And, that is something they working on getting to the House floor as well as getting their Senate, folks to come out with something that's that they can bring the conference and get some stability as a, as relates to a farm bill in 2026 for our producers. But in addition to that, you got some overseas controversy that have really, changed the game in terms of some of our input costs and things. Are we going to see fuel, fertilizer and the like because we get a lot of that stuff imported. And then on top of that, we got a bridge payment that the administration sent out back in the fall. And, and those those payments went out that last week of February. So we got a lot of producers with the bridge payment coming in. We have Congress talking about maybe a second one with some of the to the war spendings. They're going to try to do so a lot of moving parts, a lot of different dynamics in a very unstable agricultural sector from an economic standpoint, because there's a lot of uncertainty out there on opportunities for our crops and our producers this spring.
Well, you're talking a lot about what's going on here on the farm, what's going on on the national picture. But at Louisiana Farm Bureau alone, we've been pretty busy with trips to American Farm Bureau convention in Anaheim, also our own leadership conference. That was a, I think, a huge success. Would you agree with that? Oh, it's been a busy, busy, busy on the home front in Louisiana, right?
Yeah, the Baton Rouge we never stopped moving within. The Federation staff has done a fabulous job. Like you said. We we went to Anaheim with American Farm Bureau convention, did a really good job, really got a lot of the ground work behind the scenes, things done as it relates to farm Bill 2.0 that we talked about earlier, but at the same time that all transitions to the different activities we did. A Rooted in Leadership conference this year, which is a kind of a pioneering effort for our exact committee, wanted to come together and do something and, and put all, all our constituents together and try to work for that come and go. And I think we were very successful in doing that, bringing in, you know, our executive leadership, our, our, our parish leadership from each state, women's leadership and as well as our young farmers and ranchers and showed them how we can collectively work through those common goals and, and work on those topics and relevant issues that we need to face.
And, let's talk about that for a second. That's I mean, the young farmers and ranchers, the Women's Leadership Committee and the state leadership, they all have their historically have had their own little, conferences that are more focused on their groups. And this was kind of the first time in my right, this is the first time we've done that in a state where we brought all of them together. Really all three of those little group, little groups, you know, little groups, they're they're pretty massive groups when you think about it. But I'm bringing all three of them under one roof. Is that the first time we've done something like that?
As first time we've done it in Louisiana? You know, American Farm Bureau has been successful in doing that on a national level. And looking at it, we saw an opportunity to make a more robust conference, bringing in more keynote speakers and more relevant topics, you know, from AI to labor and to and it would parliamentary procedure and a variety of things that some folks are very familiar with. But some things are new. And whenever we can bring us all together, we can, we don't quote me on the numbers, but close to 200 participants registered for this conference. And unfortunately, we had a little ice storm, a little it kind of hampered, some of some of our attendees and shortened it for some others as well. You know, the northern part of the state was decimated with a tremendous ice storm. But luckily, at the end of the day, those that could make it got a lot out of it. And those that could and really are excited with the opportunity direction we're heading.
I was there for the first day and, I was it felt like a little bit of a miniature convention, like with the, with the addition of, like the out, you know, going out into tours. We got to see Tiger Stadium, which was really cool. But go into Associated Grocers and go into the Capitol, like had like a little bit of a convention vibe with the, the, the range, I guess of participants, you know, you didn't have just the young farmers, just a bunch of, the Women's Leadership Committee you had, you know, any and all that felt like it was really a cool, I guess, a cool vibe.
The vibe. It's good excitement and good momentum throughout. You know, Associated grocers is something that's been in the heart of Baton Rouge, for many, many years. As first time I get to see it and we talk about farm to table, we talk about, you know, farm gate to the consumer's plate. Well, they're the middlemen. They they get it done. And they shared with us some of the complexities, some of the challenges. But at the same time, the dynamics was was overwhelming on their should. I want to say there was over 250 maybe participants with associated groceries. And that's just one chain of of a retailer in that regard. But the different products they handle and why they do it and how they do it and, and products they'll take, they showed, you know, large chunks of meat and they, they subdivided it into more, I guess, price friendly, more economical cuts where the butchers can take it to the next level and is that it's not the vertical integration, but it's a, it's the next step of where our products go before they hit the consumers. And it was really healthy for both young and old to see the dynamics of what agriculture does and turns into.
I live 2 or 3 miles from that place, drive by it all the time, and I've never been inside and I was blown away by that. But what was neat about that was hearing their appreciation for what the folks on that tour were, you know, the farmers and ranchers who were on the tour, their appreciation for where that that product comes from. And knowing, I guess, I mean, it was Mardi Gras season. So they're talking king cakes and sugar and recognizing the the value of the farmer, I thought was really cool to hear it from their side. And granted, that may just be them being really good at knowing their audience, but I don't think it was that. I think it was them genuinely caring about the farmers that put it, but put the food on the table.
"They really feel connected to their producers, they connected to their retailers. They they want to get the safest, most abundant food supply to the consumer at the end of the day. And they felt being part of that team, they could do their part. And it was really exciting to see that feed back in the interaction, whether it be, you know, crawfish.
Tell me whether it be US beef coming in or whether it be poultry, whether it be sugar. All the different dynamics have a seat at the table within that that that grocery line and, and the technology that, that he used to distribute this stuff to sort and and to place it, the technology was phenomenal just to see what it takes to get it to the consumer day to day."
Yeah. This felt like a I was in a Sci-Fi movie. Whenever we had to go to the warehouse and see the sorting and whatnot, it was really cool. Real quick thoughts on the capital portion of the visit. Getting to go on the House floor. You have to have a little connection with the new, state House AG chair.
Yeah. You know, any time that we can, we are the voice of Louisiana agriculture. And the only way to be the voice is stand up and be present and be participating. And, we had two key leaders there, you know, Representative Rhonda Butler, who is now the House ag chair, the legislature. And she was able to participate in some of our activities and do some tours with us, but more importantly, share the message and the importance of what agriculture does. Agriculture's role within the legislature, and how we can help her facilitate the rules and regs as you get into this session. They're currently in session now, and it's and those relationships you build ahead of time or the safety net. Today's coming. So you can have that opportunity to have those conversations. Or they can reach out to you to be that expert to be to give the testimony on behalf or against certain topics as it relates and affects our producers every day.
It's really convenient also that she's your representative.
Just happens to be mine as well. Very exciting opportunity for her.
It's nice to know that she has a friend that she can call when she sees something come across her committee that says, wait a second, let's let's check on Richard now, how that affects not just you, but your farmers that you have in our network of Louisiana Farmers Farm Bureau. So that's cool. I thought that was a really cool conference. So I'm glad we talked about that, because I thought it was really neat to see all the groups come together. So you mentioned going into the legislative session. And that's I mean, that's a really cool thing that we were able to do before session. But now we're just a few weeks back and going with the young farmers and ranchers to Washington, D.C., where there's always something going on and they happen to be part of a really cool trip. They were there pretty, pretty remarkable time to be in DC, right?
Yeah, it's pretty neat. Timing is everything. And in DC, it's hard to have the right time because it.
Seems like it never works.
It's very difficult for it to come together, but this particular wife and our trip, we were having our American Farm Bureau of State presidents in for our national board meeting there. So I was able to participate in some of those activities, but the young farmers got to see, you know, House markup, Male Farm Bill 2.0, and the dialog and the dynamics associated with that, our communications teams got to be part of some of the press conferences with the secretary of AG and all those different conversations we had, we had, you know, different folks within administration sharing different stories, whether it be trade, whether it be, farm bill, whether it be some of the the issues involving some of the confrontations that are going off, overseas and some of those implications. But they were relevant. It was timely. Really open their eyes opportunities. And probably the biggest message that we carried up and we're going to always be looking at is labor. You know, currently this year, one of our industries, our crawfish industry in particular, you know, has some really struggles as a relates to h-2b labor coming in and processing some of the tail meat and the labor cap that a couple of our sectors are subjected to. B's and A's are a little different in that regard. But, the inability to get enough h-2b workers in to help finish processing a crop, one of the Louisiana's main crops now, it's really was a good story for the wife in order to share with their constituents and trying to move that needle in a direction where we don't have that problem each and every year.
Right. And I know just from being on these trips, these representatives, they depend on our voice. They depend on us telling that story, so that they have then the backing to say to not just go and say, I've heard it said I read it in a paper once. No, I know Laura and I talked to Laura about how this impacts her farm. So they have that story to take forth. And I think that's, it's valuable to them as well. I think that our representatives in our congressional delegation really appreciates having that face time with our farmers. And I think that's really cool to see on both sides, I guess. Well, you guys come to us, but it's also beneficial to them.
You got to have a story. It has to be a personal story, and you got to give them the tools to succeed in their their jobs, whether it be Congresswoman Letlow or Higgins or any of those that are that are representing us. The more stories we can tell them, the more information they have and the bigger sword, if you will, to fight our battles on our behalf when they there. And this was a prime example of one of those, because probably 5 or 6 of us in that room that had ties to crawfish and know the impact of the of this worker shortage is going to impact us, to the tune of Louisiana estimated about $300 million impact. And you look regionally, that's pretty intensive in terms of agriculture. So sharing those stories and giving the the data with the LSU AG Center data, they're providing them with all those tools and the backups to to make those stats and defense, positions for us. We even met with the Department of Labor while we're there. Some of us had the opportunity to say, we have to fix this. You know, this is why we have issues this year, but we this is continuing to grow and be a bigger problem. How do we solve it for 27? How do we make those differences. And they were receptive to the conversation. So you can't do that sitting here on the farm unfortunately you have to engage. You have to participate and you have to you have to meet them where where the fight is sometimes and, and have those stories. And once you share a personal story, then it resonates within them. They like, oh, it's real. It's not hyperbole. It's not it's not a spun out press release. It's a real story from a real farmer that's fighting this struggle.
Yeah. And usually it's not just the farmer telling their story, it's the dialog. It's that representative asking questions about, oh, how did this affect X, Y, and Z? And it becomes a it becomes a lot more than just if we were to write a narrative that becomes a.
It becomes a relationship.
Right.
And you want that relationship like Representative Butler and I have that we have an open ended conversation and truthful conversation where she she knows if she has something she can call me. If Congresswoman Letlow has an issue, she can call me a speaker. Johnson has a relationship with me that he can call, and you want to bill that and you do that over time, being aware and being a resource for them as they move forward throughout the throughout the year. And it and it starts it doesn't matter if it's a local police jury. I came back from from the Washington DC trip and the opportunity to speak to the Police Jury Association Agriculture Committee in Lake Charles the next day in our shared agriculture stories and challenges again, building relationships locally. Then you take it to Baton Rouge and you take it to DC. When everybody understands the message, then everybody's pulling together and we move that needle. Yeah.
And maybe that it's not testifying in front of the Senate, but maybe it's talking to your police jury and telling their story there. And they both have huge impacts and some arguably more impact on the police jury sometimes.
Right. You know, everything starts local and finishes local, but sometimes it has to make a big circle to get back to it. And you know, we're a grassroots organization. All our topics are local. All our concerns are local. Our policy development is local. Then we bring it up to the various chains to at the end of the day, we can address local issues.
It's really cool. Real quick question, I didn't prep you with this. So here we are on the spot. What was your first trip to DC when? Yeah, well. And when did you go to for. It was a Farm Bureau trip. Was it a Farm Bureau trip to Washington?
It was probably either a Farm Bureau wife an hour trip, or a USA Rice Federation trip that I went to DC probably in the early 90s.
When you watch these young farmers, some of them taking their first trip was you're the. Does it take you back to that first?
It definitely does. You you have an all about it. You know, I'm not a history buff, but when you look at the history dynamics behind these things and you go down these halls, it's overwhelming to a certain extent. But at the end of the day, the thing that I've always appreciated was the story. And a really good mentor of mine told me, he said, you tell them your story and then they can say it for you. And that's still true today, as it was 37 years ago, and you got to build the relationship so they can tell a story and they trust you, and you become a good source for them, and they can come to you. And that continuously grows over time.
I want to move forward. Look ahead a little bit. We've looked back. Is there anything else in the in the rear view that you're really proud of with the Farm Bureau? No, there's it's almost too much to count and keep straight.
But you know, my proudest moment is the fact that I've, I've seen and both from our executive leadership team, our state board and our parish president, more engagement. I've seen it with our staff and the various departments. I find it we're, we're pulling in the right direction as a team. It's it's it's it's all all hands on deck. You talked about rooted in in leadership. And that was a little mini convention. You know, one of the staffers told me some when I was a two day convention, and it was in terms of the intensity and the excitement and everything, but the fact that we can do it more than once a year is truly a blessing. And, and make an impact is truly. And so this is not a once a year type activity. This is 12 months out of the year. And engaging folks throughout that process is, is truly a blessing. And I think that's what's going to get us to the next level in where we need to be in the future.
Well, speaking of that, talking about all hands on deck, I know, in May we have a little event that we're kind of. You've been really pushing for for more than a year. I mean, probably since you became president, you've been kind of working towards this. But membership Monday, it's on schedule. It's on the calendar. You want to talk about it.
So it's kind of neat. You know, we're a membership based organization. Those that put this organization over 103 years ago wanted us to be part of something bigger than we are individually. And, and they acquired membership. They literally. And I got, showed folks pictures of a 1967 membership drive where board members went door to door recruiting members to be a part of this organization. And that has evolved. And we developed membership benefits over the years, and it's expanded over the years significantly. And it's one of our greatest calling cards. But at the same time, the base is our membership, and the base is being part of an organization that has a common mission. And one of the things the executive leadership team has come together is how do we're energize everyone for that common mission? Because we kind of got people get complacent. Unless you get reminded and look at different things. I mean, we're all guilty of it. But this is a way to put everybody at the table. We put into our office staffs, volunteers, agents, administrative assistants, claims adjusters, whoever is in that office working together, putting everybody at the table together, having a common goal, sharing our common mission and our core, which is a membership.
"Well, can we can we say that, like, a lot of membership comes from I mean, insurance people buying insurance products as a benefit if to get them to get an insurance product, you become a member of Farm Bureau and probably for over time, that becomes what helps fill membership. When insurance rates are good or our products are moving and people are into that.
But whenever rates aren't as good and people move, that membership goes with them. Maybe. And that's probably where a lot of the ebb and flow comes from over historically. But the insurance product is not the only benefit to being a member and being a."
Part of it. You know, it's yeah, but you can be a part of something bigger than yourself when you part of it. And membership first is the cornerstone of what our organization is built on. And this membership Monday Drive is just one day we're going to pick. They're the year where everyone has we're going to do a little contest. We like like to be competitive, but but have a contest to see who can generate the biggest percentage of increase in their membership within that parish. And that's board members. And these agents sitting down calling their family friends for the membership component of it. And yes, we've looked at it and the agency force has done a great job selling our membership, but at the same time, we have to help them do that as well. And it's our opportunity to share with them some of the membership benefits. And yes, insurance is one of the biggest benefits that we offer, but we have a lot of other collateral benefit packages that are associated with it that some people aren't aware of. So show them the awareness, whether it be the grandeur, whether it be the comfort suites or whether it be the car seat program, the hearing aid program. There's a lot of different things that we're not aware of, and there's different ways to to share that message. And this is one day for us to collectively work on that common goal and moving forward.
"One thing I heard Kirk Hendry say it a thousand times, but if you ate, if you ate today, you should be a member of Farm Bureau. And I feel like, that's one of the benefits that people it's not sexy to sell. Let's just be real selling that. We're supporting agriculture and we're doing that. By the way, we've talked about it going to DC, going to the state Capitol, going to the local level, and advocating for the farmers and ranchers and people in rural Louisiana.
You know, so that's not so sexy to sell. But that's a very big part. And that's what I often when people ask me, what is Farm Bureau? That's kind of a big part of what I tell them. And I think that's the thing that I think not to knock any of the member benefits. I mean, obviously saving on hotels and rental cars and Sherwin-Williams.
But to use the mess out of that Sherwin-Williams paint, discount. But there's a huge benefit, I think, in that we're helping keep our farmers and ranchers in business, for another year. So I think that's that's another thing that I'm just going to say that I, I took my time on the podcast to say that. So there you go.
But that's a huge aspect of it, of being a member as well. It's just that support."
"For, well, you part of something bigger. Yeah. And the opportunities we have to be a member is one thing. Understanding why that membership really makes a difference is opportunity we're going to have on membership Monday is to share that message with them, to be a part of it, because it collectively we have to work together, you know, and we might not be in the market, if you will, and have the competitive advantages of some of our programs, you know, whether it be an auto, a mutual product and the like.
But at the same time, we can still be a member. So when we do come back and they're competitive, we have our members going to have preferential treatment, right, because it is a privilege and honor to be a part of that and have those opportunities. But at the end of the day, that's the cornerstone of what we built on.
And if even if you're not in production agriculture you ate that day, food is important to you. Food, fiber and shelter the three cornerstones of our survival, and to be part of something that shares those values and principles. I think that's the message that we share with doing for for 40 or $50, whatever that parish fee is, you can be a part of that, plus have access to unbelievable resources and staff.
We we have a we have a 40 something folks in Baton Rouge that that are dedicated to serving our membership benefits and our programs and, and represent our various commodities throughout the state. So whether you're a part time farmer or you just have an interest in farming, we have communication opportunities to put you in there and plug in places and understand what's going on so that you do have the the safest, most abundant food supply for generations to come."
"I think it's really cool. I'm excited about it. I know you've had some a lot of conversations with I mentioned Kirk Henry, vice president of sales and insurance company and all that. I don't know if they got the right title, but he still owes me. But I know you've had a lot of conversation with him, but I know recently you and I both just had a lot of conversations with some agents about this.
Well, some of the feedback you're getting from them and from various presidents, parish leadership, executives, state leadership, what are you hearing out in the field about it as you kind of talk to folks about it, you know, for the last few months."
"You know, there's an excitement on the topic because the fact that we can we can work together on a common goal. We haven't done that. You know, we've done it generically, you know, out of an office and then individually done different things. But to say that we've worked collaboratively on a single topic, I don't know if we've done that in many, many years.
And I think that's the excitement and the challenge to it is, well, let's see how this goes. I know we can do it or an A competitiveness to it. I was visited with my agency manager on the phone prior to this podcast on looking at ways to incentivize that participation to do things we haven't done, because I got board members that don't know that we have adjusters and claims adjusters in that office, never had a five minute conversation with them, but they're part of the team.
We are a Farm Bureau. We all Louisiana Farm Bureau, we're all in the same umbrella. And we all but we all have different subsets that we represent and work for and participate in. But at the end of the day, if one of us succeeds, we all succeed, right? And that's the that's the motto behind participating in this program on Monday."
I'm excited for it. And, we'll be putting out more about this, maybe not on the podcast, but we'll have resources, for our parish offices. If you're just a member in your parish and say, hey, I want to get involved. I like recruiting for my church or for my, local school events or whatever. Hey, we want you involved in that, too, and we will find ways to get you plugged in. We we really are going to encourage that over the next few weeks, a couple months. So thank you for sharing some about that. Another thing on the forefront. I mean, we're we're here and we always kind of joke on the staff level will be in, staff meetings and we'll be, well, it's convention time. We're here. And it's crazy to say that out loud, but it's like it just ended. But here we are again, the Louisiana Farm Bureau convention. It's the week earlier this year in June, but here we are. Are you excited for that? Like kind of seeing that.
"Coming up I am it's forefront. And to see the numbers. You know last year we had a really good almost record attendance again. Look forward to for for whoever can make it and participate in. I'm looking forward to the wife and our contestants, our youth contestants in the various contests and the interaction and just the vendors that are coming and sharing their stories and want to be a part of it.
It's exciting to see that expand and grow and, and get more involvement from around the state."
Your, parish, US parish president. You are parish president. Are you still.
Paper? No, I was you were you step down.
You got to get another, I'm a little bit more, all right.
But I was about 17 years.
For a while, you were parish president. We before you had the hat you wear now? Yeah. What did you enjoy about coming to convention before you on the state board? Executive committee, parish, state president. Now, what was it that brought you to convention that got you fired up?
"Probably the biggest thing is as a president coming in was, was the networking and the sharing and and discussing the challenges and the issues and the fact that there was some commonality across parish lines. And then there was some opportunities to to resolve some of those in our policy development, which we do at the end of convention, where we actually going back, do we have a local issue?
We developed policy to fix it. We we visit with the various advisory committees throughout that process to where we develop policies so we can address the problem back at home. We make a difference and we keep bad things from happening often. Because not everybody understands the big picture. When you make a rule or law or a statute that we have to be a bound by, once you look into it as more extenuating circumstances often, and this is allowing us to have that communication expose some of those vulnerabilities that some of the lawmakers might be trying to do.
But at the end of the day, it's often referred to as a reunion, because a lot of folks I see once a year as a parish president knows opportunity to sit and visit and understand and see the kids and understand where they're at in development. So it's it's always been kind of a reunion policy development opportunity. And it's as fun for the family."
I always love it. I've gone even before I was a staff member. So it was a lot more fun before I was a staff member because I got to come and just run around and drink all the, like, milk in the world.
But likewise.
"It's it's still a lot of fun because for me as well, I get to go to farms like this and I get to see folks on their farm that I get to see them again. I convention and catch up and see how life been set. So it's really cool. Anything else beyond convention coming up that you're, that you're looking out?
I mean, you're always, we I looked at your calendar earlier. We were talking about it over lunch. It's stays pretty slammed. Anything coming up in your world as president of Louisiana Farm Bureau that you're excited about? The in the farm Bureau world?"
"Yeah, I'm excited that we've done some things. We've done some things on the insurance side as well as the Federation side that that's going to offer more opportunities for our policyholders, for our members in a variety of ways, and look forward to seeing where that growth and transformation comes into and develops. So it's it's really some fun times.
It's definitely some challenging times because I've heard some really, really tough stories out there along the countryside. I'm sharing those messages, and I'm putting those messages in front of the politicians to understand those dynamics. Because sustainability and longevity, it depends on, on on our folks getting crop loans, getting crops in and out of the field. And, you know, there's there's a mental strain to that.
And, and probably one of the things we really excited about that we bring in is a mental awareness component to our membership that's going to be, be shared a little more, a little more, I guess, ramp it, if you will, in the next few months as we develop that teasing it."
I'm hoping to have a podcast with Courtney. You're Ross Courtney, you're on notice now in a couple of weeks. As we enter May, which is mental health awareness. Okay. So that's that's on the, that's that's being planned already. So so that's exciting. I'm very excited for that.
It's because we recognize the challenges. You know, we want to celebrate the wins. We want to be there in the challenges and be supportive throughout. And that's the thing that makes me so proud of this organization. As a volunteer, to sit down and be there for all those. The roller coaster ride, if you will. And when you have that, then you have the network. Then you're never alone. You have resources, you have a back up. And then I think at the end of the day, life is what it's supposed to be at that point.
Well, I think that's one of the things that makes Farm Bureau so strong is leadership like yourself. Who is from the farm world? Not just, a suit that that comes in and steps in as as the president of an organization like Farm Bureau. But you you live it every day, and you work it. You ride that tractor and you know, the the weight that sits on your shoulders in that tractor seat. I think that's what makes Farm Bureau really valuable. And as a valuable resource. Back to our members. So I think that's really cool. Richard, thank you. I know you have farm work to be working on as well. Now you got fields you got to go get into. So thanks for taking the few minutes to do the podcast. I hope you get a rest of your crop in the ground. Everything's looking good. It was up nice and pretty. And no replant or any problems like that is.
Just part of the challenge.
Add it to the list, right?
All part of it.
Well, I appreciate you. Thanks for listening, everyone. We hope you enjoyed this episode of the podcast. Have you another one right here in a couple of weeks, Louisiana Farm Bureau podcast.