MEMPHIS – The National Cotton Council welcomed the Senate’s confirmation today of Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture and congratulated him on serving in this role for a second time following his previous tenure from 2009 to 2017. NCC Chairman Kent Fountain, a Georgia cotton producer and ginner, said, “Tom Vilsack has a good understanding of the challenges facing the …

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Kent Fountain, a Surrency, Ga., ginner, was re-elected National Cotton Council (NCC) chairman for 2021 during the organization’s virtual annual meeting today. Ted Schneider, a Lake Providence, La., producer, was re-elected to the position of vice chairman for 2021. A member of the NCC’s 2001-2002 Cotton Leadership Class, Fountain served as a NCC vice president from 2016-2018 and …

MEMPHIS, Tenn. C National Cotton Council economists point to a few key factors that will shape the U.S. cotton industry’s 2021 economic outlook. This past year was characterized by significant uncertainty and volatility in both the global economy and the world cotton market. The most challenging issue facing the global cotton market in 2020 was the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic …

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – U.S. cotton producers intend to plant 11.5 million cotton acres this spring, down 5.2 percent from 2020 (based on USDA’s February 2021 estimate), according to the National Cotton Council’s 40th Annual Early Season Planting Intentions Survey. (see table below) Upland cotton intentions are 11.3 million acres, down 4.9 percent from 2020, while extra-long staple (ELS) intentions of …

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (February 10, 2021) – Ted D. Sheely, a producer from Lemoore, Calif., was elected as president of Cotton Council International (CCI) for 2021. CCI is the National Cotton Council’s (NCC) export promotion arm and carries out programs in more than 50 countries globally under the COTTON USA™ trademark. Sheely and other CCI officers were elected at CCI’s board …

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — National Cotton Council State Unit Officers for 2021 were elected at the industrywide organization’s 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting. Chairmen, Vice-Chairmen and Secretaries, respectively, of the State Units are: ALABAMA – Nick McMichen, producer, Centre; Ernest Osuna, ginner, Hazel Green; and Jeff Thompson, cooperative, Prattville; ARIZONA – Dan Thelander, producer, Maricopa; Bill Brackett, ginner, and K.C. Gingg, producer, …

(MEMPHIS, TN) – Van Murphy, a cotton grower from Quitman, GA, was elected Chairman of the Board of Cotton Incorporated at the Cotton Board and Cotton Incorporated Joint Meeting in December 2020.  Murphy brings a long history of service and experience to the Chairmanship, a two-year term that commences in 2021. “Van Murphy is well-respected in the U.S. cotton industry for …

WASHINGTON—A broad coalition of industry organizations and labor unions, representing a broad spectrum of manufacturers and workers who stepped up to make essential PPE and other products throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, sent a letter today to President Biden and congressional leaders outlining recommendations on specific policy initiatives that must be adopted to re-establish a permanent PPE industry in the United …

The 2020 Georgia Quality Cotton Awards were presented at the 2021 Georgia Cotton Commission Virtual Annual Meeting on January 27, 2021. The awards are co-sponsored by the Georgia Cotton Commission and Bayer Crop Science/Deltapine and administered by the University of Georgia Cotton Team. Dr. Yangxuan Liu from the UGA Cotton Team conducted the analysis and presented the 2020 Georgia Quality …

Did you suffer crop quality losses due to natural disasters that occurred in 2018 or 2019? USDA is implementing the Quality Loss Adjustment (QLA) Program to provide financial assistance to crop producers who experienced quality losses caused by qualifying disaster events. [VIEW WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION]

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5, 2021 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to collaborate with the Georgia Department of Agriculture to raise awareness and further examine the significant increase in seed coat fragments in cotton produced in the southeast region. Thus far in the 2020 cotton season, the AMS …

Like most of you, we at the Georgia Cotton Commission are excited to see what 2021 holds in store for us. We are hopeful that 2021 will be an “abnormal” year – a year of both favorable markets and growing/harvesting conditions. We hope that you and yours had a Merry Christmas and that the new year will be safe and …