Home Care In Wisner, LA

A judge on Thursday froze the Wisner Trust for the foreseeable future, prohibiting any distributions of revenue from the donated oilfield land without court approval for the duration of the City Council's lawsuit against the trust's private board, which is headed by Mayor LaToya Cantrell.

In doing so, Orleans Parish Civil District Court Judge Kern Reese said Cantrell's 2020 extension of a trust arrangement to split millions of dollars in annual revenue generated by the trust between the city, private organizations and individuals was "not proper," since a 2014 appellate court ruling found that the trust had expired.

Reese said revenue from the 38,000 acres of land in and around Port Fourchon are "public funds" that must be distributed with proper oversight.

The land generates roughly $9 million annually, and the city gets a little more than a third of the take. Tulane University, Louisiana State University, the Salvation Army and the heirs of philanthropist Edward Wisner, who donated the land to the city for charitable purposes in 1914, also get funding.

As a group, the heirs — who were not included in the original donation but got a share under a 1929 agreement — receive 40%, which is the largest portion.

The council’s fight with Cantrell boils down to two primary claims: that Cantrell is surrendering city assets to private interests and controlling the money with an illegitimate management board that operates in secret. The council argues the city is legally entitled to all the revenue, and that it should be divvied out to local organizations in public view.

A lawyer for the council, Judy Barrasso, argued on Wednesday that the distributions to other beneficiaries amount to illegal donations under the state constitution.

"There has never been justification as to why the city would take fully owned land and donate it," Barrasso said. "Why would the city just give it away?"

Barrasso also said city taxpayers have suffered irreparable harm because the heirs' portion has been divided among hundreds of people and entities throughout the country. They include several limited liability companies that intervened in the lawsuit last week, Barrasso said.

Lawyers for the management board and Wisner heirs focused on a fundamental question they say will be central to the litigation: ownership of the land. Apart from the other issues with the 2020 agreement, they say the other beneficiaries hold a stake in the land under the 1929 settlement. The council's lawyers argue that the city has owned the land outright since Wisner's donation.

Reese said the preliminary injunction issued Wednesday goes a step further than the temporary restraining order he put in place last week. That order still allowed the city to receive its portion of the revenue even if Cantrell was barred from tapping it. Reese said all distributions are now frozen, and that he must be consulted "before anybody sends a check to anybody from that land, with those proceeds."

Reese also dispensed with the management board's argument that the council had no right to sue as a distinct entity under the city charter. He said the argument "flies in the face of everything that is elementary in civics."

Cantrell’s actions in 2020 effectively stripped the council of any role in deciding what the city does with the money, which typically goes to charitable organizations. Cantrell has continued doling out Wisner money to nonprofits, as well as public agencies, but the administration has been opaque about its process for doing so.

Asked at a Wednesday press briefing why she converted the Wisner Trust to a private management board, Cantrell responded that she was simply continuing the practices of the Landrieu administration.

That is only true with respect to continuing the 1929 distribution formula. Cantrell’s move to take the trust private was unprecedented. Cantrell said she couldn’t discuss the matter further because it is in litigation.

“Right now, there’s nothing happening,” Cantrell said, referring to the restraining order. “We're at a standstill. Organizations that depend on these resources are, again, in a position to not receive them in the future.”

The city’s law department turned over a list of more than 80 organizations that have received Wisner money since Cantrell took office in 2018, including more than 20 since Cantrell took the trust private. Nearly all of the cooperative endeavor agreements governing those gifts are not available in the city’s online contract database. A public records request for those contracts has been pending for more than six weeks.

The list shows Wisner money going to two public agencies, the New Orleans Business Alliance and the Downtown Development District. The Business Alliance, serving as a pass through, received $235,000 to sponsor parent training workshops and New Orleans East fireworks displays, according to documents the group provided.

A request to the Downtown Development District is pending.

Cantrell also directed $850,000 in Wisner money to a nonprofit that she started, Forward Together New Orleans, which has financed city programs with charitable donations.

The organization’s accounts are currently frozen amid an investigation by the Office of Inspector General, putting a halt to workforce development and violence reduction programs that Wisner money was supposed to pay for.

Bill Moroni will tell you it was a good year to be a corn producer in northeastern Louisiana. Planting began on schedule. Rains fell plentifully. Insect and disease pressure was low, and the brunt of September hurricanes mostly bypassed the region.

With those weather conditions it’s no surprise yields were good. Moroni would not disclose his family farm average, but he said the 2021 corn crop was one of the best ever.

“We’re very pleased,” said Maroni, who farms with his brother, Ken in Franklin Parish, La. Son, Mike, has also recently joined the farm, and oldest son Mark farms his own ground nearby.

“The weather was strange for our area but ideal for good corn yields,” he continued. “We got started when we like to start around March 10. We had a good run, got everything planted timely, and then it rained all year long. It practically eliminated the need for supplemental irrigation. We generally water five to 12 times per year. We watered 1.5 times this year. We had plenty of rainfall, and that made for good yields particularly on sandy soils.”

Bo Haring, who manages The Andersons grain elevator in nearby Wisner, La., has talked with many happy corn growers from across the region. While Louisiana corn yield averages typically hover around 180 bu/a, he’s heard from several growers shelling upwards of 200 bu/a across their fields.

“Before harvest began, you thought it was a good crop, but when the combines hit the fields and the numbers started coming in, everyone was amazed,” added Haring. “This is probably one of the best corn crops these guys have seen in the last 10 years and maybe ever.”

“It’s rare that we get to have good yields and good prices in the same year, but corn was great, and soybeans are looking good, too,” said Haring.

Corn is king in La.

Over the past 15 years, there has been a sharp trend away from cotton and to grains in Louisiana. USDA statistics show growers there planted nearly 600,000 acres of corn and more than 1 million acres of soybeans in 2021 compared to just over 100,000 acres of cotton.

To add perspective, this year there were as many acres planted to cotton in Kansas as Louisiana, according to USDA.

“When I came to the area 30 years ago there were at least 12 cotton gins in the parish. Now there are two. The agricultural landscape has completely changed,” said Carol Pinnell-Alison, LSU AgCenter Extension agent for Franklin Parish, which is now the top corn producing parish in the state. Franklin Parish growers planted more than 90,000 acres of corn in 2021.

The transition to grain has had infrastructure running to catch up. The Andersons own five grain elevators in the northeastern portion of the state. Haring said the Wisner elevator handled 7 million bushels of corn this year — up 1 million bushels from 2020. Louisiana is home to one of the largest outdoor grain pile storage pods in the U.S., according to Haring. It holds more than 3.1 million bushels of corn and is completely full.

“Maybe we could have fit another half a truck in it,” said Haring with a smile.

When we met with Haring in mid-September, corn harvest was winding down, but soybean harvest had not yet begun in earnest. Already it had been a hectic year. With an inverse market, more producers were selling on September futures and delivering during harvest.

“On our biggest day this year we took in 440,000 bushels of corn. It’s amazing the volume we can handle, but infrastructure still has some catching up to do,” he said. “When you have farmers running a combine with a 12-row header and growing 200+ bu/a corn you fill up quickly.”

On-farm grain storage in the area is increasing. Even with an inverse in the market, Haring said he had customers put in grain bins this year.

“It really didn’t pay to store corn this year, but they’re looking down the road. We’ve become a grain producing area.”

Moroni family farm

For the Moroni family, the transition to grain happened years ago. They were one of the first farms to grow corn on a large scale in the area, starting in the 1980s. They are now a 100% corn operation.

“My father, Bill Moroni, Sr., and uncles, John and Bob, moved here from Missouri in the 1960s, because land was cheap and available,” Moroni said. “When I was a teenager, my dad had 3,000 acres of soybeans that weren’t paying the bills, so he decided to try corn.”

“I can remember the first year we had corn we had a three-row corn header on a 105 combine, and they took turns riding on top of the cab watching it,” Moroni recalls. “They started with less than 100 acres of corn, and it grew from there.”

Today, the Moroni farm features substantial on-farm storage and drying capacity. The Moroni brothers load out corn almost every day of the year — selling most of their crop off the farm to an end user that feeds dairy and beef cattle and sacks deer corn for Walmart.

Bill says grain storage is vital to the success of marketing and selling quality corn, but he cautions young growers that with this crop it’s easy to get trapped in a cycle of endless growth.

“When we decided to plant more corn, we had to have a bigger dryer. You get a bigger dryer you have to have a bigger combine so you can move more corn. Then you have to have more trucks. You get more trucks; you need more storage. It’s a never-ending cycle. Having the maturity to stay where you are comfortable and can make a good living instead of focusing on constantly getting bigger can save a lot of stress.”

2021 Challenges

Despite excellent yields and good prices, 2021 was not a year without challenges for the Moronis and other northeast Louisiana grain producers. Hurricane damage to infrastructure near the mouth of the Mississippi River caused delays and lost opportunity as barge traffic was shut down.

“Most of the corn grown in this area goes to chicken feed mills in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi, but with this being an export year, we loaded a lot of barges,” Haring said. “The river shutting down hurt us some, but fortunately we were able to adapt and load trains down to Mexico to free up space.”

On the farm level, growers had difficulty getting herbicides, and due to shortages of parts, equipment break downs took longer to repair. Input costs have risen drastically and are causing concern as farmers begin to plan for the next crop season.

Also, the ongoing COVID pandemic made an already shaky labor situation worse. Fortunately, for the Moronis, labor in the form of relatives is plentiful. Moroni is one of four sons. He’s the father of four sons, too. (Mark, Brian, Cody and Mike).

“We’re fortunate to have my kids and my brother’s son, Chase, who are working on the farm. Even those who work off the farm, come back and pitch in when we need them,” Moroni said. “It’s really helpful to have people you can depend on.”

“When I first started out, my dad told me farming is a good way to make a living while keeping your family around you. That’s probably the best part of farming,” Moroni added.

Of course, a year of good weather, outstanding yields and complimentary prices is a pretty good part of farming, too.

About the Author(s)

Ginger Rowsey

Senior writer

Ginger Rowsey joined Farm Press in 2020, bringing more than a decade of experience in agricultural communications. Her previous experiences include working in marketing and communications with the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture. She also worked as a local television news anchor with the ABC affiliate in Jackson, Tennessee.

Rowsey grew up on a small beef cattle farm in Lebanon, Tennessee. She holds a degree in Communications from Middle Tennessee State University and an MBA from the University of Tennessee at Martin. She now resides in West Tennessee with her husband and two daughters.

Between them, Ray Young and Grady Coburn have more than 100 years of experience working as crop consultants in Louisiana. They could be resting on their laurels, but both are focused on the future.

Young, who began working as a consultant in northeast Louisiana not long after he served in the Korean War, and Coburn, who has worked in central Louisiana nearly as long, and their wives, Dorothy and Barbara, are funding multiple scholarships for deserving graduate students.

They and others presented their latest educational grants during an awards ceremony at the Louisiana Agricultural Technology and Management Conference held annually by the Louisiana Agricultural Consultants Association. This year’s event was in Marksville, La.

Johnny Saichuk, retired LSU AgCenter rice specialist, and Jim Griffin, retired LSU AgCenter weed scientist, were also honored as the two new members of the Louisiana Agricultural Consultants Association Hall of Fame during the ceremony.

“It is exciting to see what these young people are doing as they begin their research careers,” said Young, who himself was recently inducted into the Louisiana Agricultural Hall of Distinction during a ceremony in Baton Rouge.

During the LATMC meeting, Ray and Dorothy Young, who live in Wisner, presented a scholarship to Jorge Pineda on behalf of themselves, RiceTec and Crop Production Services. Originally from Honduras, Pineda is working on his master’s degree at Louisiana State University, studying the fungus that causes aflatoxin in corn.

Grady and Barbara Coburn and their company, Pest Management Enterprises, based in Cheneyville, La., presented a scholarship to Myra Purvis. She is working on her master’s degree in plant pathology, studying soybean taproot decline, while working as a research associate at the LSU AgCenter Macon Ridge Research Station in Winnsboro, La.

Lina Bernaola received a scholarship from the Louisiana Land Bank. Bernaola, from Peru, is working on her doctoral degree in entomology, studying the effects of a fungi on rice resistance to insects and pathogens.

Emily Kraus received a scholarship from AgBiTech. She is working on her doctoral degree in entomology, studying rice water weevils and armyworms. She has received 20 scholarships, honors and awards, and she has worked in Africa.

LACA members heard a presentation by Bradley Sartain, a graduate research assistant in the LSU AgCenter School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences, who received the 2016 Young Endowed Assistantship for Row Crop Integrated Pest Management.

Recipients are required to make a presentation on their work. Sartain is studying control measures for giant salvinia, an invasive species that has choked waterways throughout the state. He warned that another aquatic weed, crested floating heart, now found in Texas, could be a bigger problem than giant salvinia.

Dr. Saichuk, who was based at the H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station in Crowley, La., said teaching had been the most rewarding aspect of his career in agriculture. “It took me a long time to learn my gift was to teach,” he said.

Dr. Griffin, who worked at both the Crowley Station and on the main LSU Campus in Baton Rouge, said he enjoyed working with students. “They are the reason I was as productive as I was.”

About the Author(s)

Forrest Laws, senior director of content for Farm Press, spent 10 years with The Memphis Press-Scimitar before joining Delta Farm Press in 1980. He has written extensively on farm production practices, crop marketing, farm legislation, environmental regulations and alternative energy. He now oversees the content creation for Delta, Southeast, Southwest and Western Farm Press. He resides in Memphis, Tenn. He served as a missile launch officer in the U.S. Air Force before resuming his career in journalism with The Press-Scimitar.

WISNER, La. – For the last 32 years, Thomas Peoples has called First Baptist Church, Wisner, “home.”

Peoples, who has served as pastor for one-third of the church’s 100-year existence, has faithfully walked alongside his members as they have strived to be a light house for Christ in Wisner. Many of those individuals, along with others from the community, will be on hand to honor Peoples during a special retirement service, July 30. The day will include a lunch and reception at 2 p.m. in the church’s family life center.

“This was a great church when we arrived,” Peoples said. “And hopefully we’re leaving it even better than we found it.”

CALLED TO SERVE

Peoples trusted Christ as his Savior at nine and embraced a call to ministry at 16, serving as youth minister at Poplar Springs Baptist Church, Newton, Mississippi. Over the next two years, Peoples continued to serve as a youth minister at First Baptist Church, Taylorsville, Mississippi, and then as pastor at Oak Grove Baptist Church, Bentonia, Mississippi (1979-84), Parkerson Avenue Baptist Church, Crowley (1985-1991), and FBC Wisner (1991-present).

ON MISSION TO SERVE

While Christ has been at the forefront of his ministry, Peoples said he could not have enjoyed such a fruitful ministry without the support of his wife, Loretta. The couple have been married 48 years.

Loretta, whose father, Robert Martin, served as interim pastor of FBC Wisner in 1976 and then again in 1984, called it an honor for her husband to serve at the same church where he dad pastored.

Together, the couple has been present for the birth, baptism and marriage of many church members.

“A lot of pastors don’t get to see that full circle,” Thomas Peoples said. “It’s a compliment to the

church that they were willing to allow us that privilege.”

During their time at FBC Wisner, the Peoples have participated with members on mission trips to such locations as West Virginia, Guatemala, South Louisiana, and Daytona Beach, Florida. Church members also have conducted surveys of every household in Wisner, not to recruit members, but to identify needs in the community and share that information with town officials, hosted an annual fall festival and community Christmas meal, and gathered once a month at the church to pack more than 100 bags of groceries for distribution through the Northeast Louisiana Food Bank.

The Peoples also have seen their members give generously to support missions around the world through the Cooperative Program.

“Even when money was tight, the church was faithful to give and help people in need – and God has honored that,” Thomas Peoples noted.

One ministry highlight for Thomas Peoples was in 2005, when he had the opportunity to lead in

prayer before the United States House of Representatives inside the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., upon the invitation of then-Congressman Rodney Alexander.

“I got to stand in the spot where every U.S. President has delivered their State of the Union Address,” Thomas said. “It was an honor.”

MOTIVATED TO SERVE

Peoples also has seen the church rally during some of the most difficult moments, including when a fire destroyed the worship center and educational buildings in 2005. He recalled how members spontaneously formed a prayer circle, and someone began singing the old hymn “Trust and Obey.” Members met in the gymnasium for worship and homes for Bible study until the facilities were rebuilt two years later.

“It was an emotional time,” Loretta Peoples said. “Heartbreaking. But God turned it around for good.”

And in 2009, the church retired the debt through a combination of insurance, member commitments to extra giving and many donations from friends of the church.

As they look toward retirement, the Peoples plan to move to Pineville where their oldest son, Jared, is in ministry at Calvary Baptist Church, Alexandria. They also plan to visit their middle son, Joshua, who is a church planter/pastor at City Light Church, Ormand Beach, Florida, and youngest son, Jon, who works for the Franklin Parish School Board and is an active member of FBC Wisner.

“We are very blessed to have been here and part of this church family for so long,” Peoples said. “To get to be a pastor to – and friends with – some wonderful people. First Baptist Wisner will always be home.”

City Councilman Joe Giarrusso said the council disagrees with the latest ruling and will likely take the case to the Louisiana Supreme Court.

NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana appeal court overturned a lower court ruling and dismissed a lawsuit by the New Orleans City Council against Mayor LaToya Cantrell, saying the legislative body essentially didn’t have standing to bring the case.

The City Council sued Cantrell to undo an agreement the mayor made in 2020 with the heirs of Edward Wisner to privatize a huge land trust Wisner left for the city of New Orleans 109 years ago, so they could continue to share the lucrative proceeds among themselves and the city’s mayors could continue to dole out their share of the money to special programs and projects without City Council oversight.

"We are pleased with the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal's dismissal of the New Orleans City Council lawsuit,” mayoral spokesman Gregory Joseph said.

But City Councilman Joe Giarrusso said the council disagrees with the latest ruling and will likely take the case to the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Giarrusso says the Louisiana Fourth Circuit’s ruling does nothing to help resolve the Wisner Trust and that the trust assets belong to the city of New Orleans.

“In 2014, the Wisner Trust expired. Those significant trust assets, including Port Fourchon, belong to the City of New Orleans and no one else,” Giarrusso said in a statement released on Monday."

“On Friday, the Fourth Circuit, for the second time, agreed that the trust expired nearly ten years ago. The appellate court’s ruling that the Council lacks the capacity to enforce the trust’s expiration is hyper-technical and does nothing but delay these proceedings. This can and will be easily fixed if necessary. Someone must be able to sue to protect what properly belongs to the City. The residents of New Orleans deserve no less than that.”

The appeal court overturned a ruling by Judge Kern Reese, which declared the Wisner Trust proceeds “public funds” and blocked the mayor and Wisner’s heirs from spending them without the City Council’s approval.

That threatened to shut down dozens of social programs and projects that mayors have supported for decades using about 35% of the Wisner Trust funds.

In recent months, Cantrell and the council have agreed on allocations of some of the money as the lawsuit progressed through the courts.

The rest of the annual proceeds was shared by about 50 Wisner heirs, Tulane University, LSU Health Sciences Center and the Salvation Army.

Wisner’s heirs have been fighting to maintain control of the money after the trust was supposed to have dissolved in 2014.

But the mayor at that time, Mitch Landrieu, never made moves to claim the land, and neither did Cantrell.

In 2020, Cantrell struck a new agreement with the heirs to privatize the trust so it could continue to be shared as it had been, in perpetuity.

The City Council argues 100% of the property, which includes a major oil and gas port at Port Fourchon and generates around $10 million a year in lease payments, should have automatically gone to the city in 2014.

Any money the land generated would have gone to the city’s general fund, would have been reported publicly, and would have been budgeted with City Council oversight.

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