2013 Georgia Quality Cotton Award winners named

Published 9:40 pm Monday, March 17, 2014

Jan. 22, 2014 marked the ninth year of the Georgia Quality Cotton Awards presentations, which took place at the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center.  The awards program is co-sponsored by the Georgia Cotton Commission and Bayer CropScience, and administered by the University of Georgia Cotton Team.  

The purposes of the awards are to recognize producers and ginners of high-quality cotton fiber and to identify their general management practices for the benefit of other cotton growers.  

The producers and their gins received a plaque and the winning growers received a $500 cash award.  The winners’ Extension agents were also recognized, as they work closely with the farmers during the growing season.

The awards are given in each of these three cotton acreage categories: 1) less than 500 acres, 2) 500 to 1,000 acres, and 3) more than 1,000 acres within the four regions of the state.  Winners in these categories are determined by the loan value (LV) and premiums (P).  These winners’ excellent cotton quality achieved is due largely to their management practices  and expertise.  The sponsors of this program congratulated all of the following winners:  

REGION 3: 1) Ronnie Courson of Lanier County, 2) Thomas Southall of Lowndes County, and 3) River Bottom Farms of Lanier County. All three winners were nominated by BCT Gin.

REGION 4: 1) Aldine Hart of Colquitt County, nominated by BCT Gin – Berlin, 2) Creek Bank Farms of Miller County, nominated by Clover Leaf Gin, and 3) Brian Rayburn of Thomas County, also nominated by BCT Gin – Berlin.