Louisiana ag commissioner opening speaker for 12th annual National Conservation Cotton & Rice Conference

The Monday, Jan. 26, opening session of the National Conservation Cotton & Rice Conference in Marksville, La., will have “three great speakers this year,” said said John LaRose, publisher, MidAmerica Farm Publications.

The speakers are: Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry Mike Strain; Berrye Worsham, president and CEO of Cotton Incorporated; and Dwight Roberts, president and CEO of US Rice Producers Association.

Strain was elected commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry in 2007. Strain earned a doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1983 from Louisiana State University. He served two terms in the office of State Representative in House District 74. While in the Louisiana Legislature, Strain served on the Agriculture Committee and chaired the Legislative Rural Caucus, the largest legislative caucus in Louisiana.

Worsham oversees Cotton Incorporated's global research and marketing programs. Cotton Incorporated has U.S. offices in New York, Cary, N.C., Dallas and Los Angeles.

Prior to becoming president and CEO of US Rice Producers Association in 1998, Roberts spent over 24 years working in international agricultural activities both in the private sector and as director for international marketing at the Texas Department of Agriculture.