Rep. Larry Combest (R-TX), right, who chaired the House Agriculture Committee during the crafting of the 2002 farm bill, receives the 2003 Harry S. Baker Award from NCC Chairman Kenneth Hood.

The award, named for the late California industry leader and National Cotton Council (NCC) President Harry S. Baker, is presented annually to a deserving individual who has provided extraordinary service, leadership and dedication to the U.S. cotton industry.

Combest took the title, "Representative," to heart in seeing after the needs of his 400 mile-long 19^th Congressional district in Texas. Throughout his tenure, including the House Agriculture Committee chairmanship, "he applied his agriculture background to his job and took a proactive approach to shaping sound policies."

The late Louisiana cotton producer, ginner and warehouseman Jack Hamilton, who was a determined U.S. cotton industry leader, is the 2003 Oscar Johnston Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.

The award is presented to an individual, now deceased, who served the industry through the NCC, and who demonstrated character and integrity as well as perseverance and maturation during that service.

Hamilton served the NCC continuously from 1969 until his death in December 2001. That service included seven years as a delegate, two years as a member of its Board, chairman of the Joint Cotton Industry Bale Packaging Committee, president of The Cotton Foundation, NCC treasurer, NCC president in 1998 and its Board chairman in 1999. In addition to being an innovative producer and ginner, Hamilton was a leading advocate for improvements in cotton processing and in the classing system.

The 2003 High Cotton Award producer recipients were from left: L.C. Conway, Cove City, NC; Marty White, Jonesboro, AR; Dale Swinburn, Tulia, TX; and Paul "Paco" Ollerton, Coolidge, AZ.

Four cotton producers who have not let economic adversity stand in the way of their love and concern for the land were the recipients of the 2003 High Cotton awards.

The recipients were : L.C. Conway, Cove City, NC, Southeast Region; Marty White, Jonesboro, AR, Delta Region; Dale Swinburn, Tulia, TX, Southwest Region; and Paul "Paco" Ollerton, Coolidge, AZ, Western Region.

Each recipient meets the criteria that have dictated the selection of the High Cotton awards since the program’s beginning in 1995; that is, they are full-time growers who produce a profitable, high quality crop while meeting the best standards of environmental stewardship.

Clemson University Genomics Institute scientists and other researchers are now operating in a new Biotechnology Research Center on the university's campus.

The Clemson University Genomics Institute (CUGI), founded by Dr. Rod Wing in 1996, continues under the direction of principal scientist, Dr. Jeff Tomkins, a faculty member in the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry. Dr. Tomkins’ research program has a strong emphasis in cotton genomics, which is supported by several large grants from Cotton Incorporated.

A new Cotton Center also has been established at CUGI (www.genome.clemson.edu) under the direction of Dr. Tomkins. The Center is designed to provide genomic resources and data to cotton breeders and geneticists across the United States. CUGI's scientists and other researchers are now operating in a new Biotechnology Research Center on the university's campus. CUGI's intention is to be an international resource for the structural and functional genomics of cotton.

Dr. Tomkins has assumed the official directorship of CUGI and Clemson’s cotton genomics program. The faculty position of the Lois Coker Endowed Chair of Plant Molecular Genetics formerly held by Dr. Wing, though, is still open and a search is anticipated in the near future. While not guaranteed, it is hoped the new Coker Chair will have a cotton research emphasis.

Endowment: $300,000

This fellowship was inaugurated to honor the late California producer-ginner and former Cotton Foundation president, C. Everette Salyer. Doctoral and post-doctoral level students are able to study and conduct research geared to the sciences of producing and marketing cotton. It also provides funding for recipients to attend the annual Beltwide Cotton Conferences, where they are able to share their results with industry leaders.

The current fellowship recipient is Randy Clouse, a graduate student in Texas A&M University's department of biological and agricultural engineering. He is developing and evaluating management strategies for a site-specific irrigation system for cotton crops. His research is aimed at optimizing water application to cotton, based on water availability and the cotton's physiological status. Clouse's fellowship will end in August 2005.

The most recent endowment recipients were Ernest Clawson, who completed his Ph.D in agronomy at Texas A&M in May 2003, and Paul Ragsdale, who was scheduled to complete his Ph.D. in cotton breeding at Texas A&M in the summer of 2003.

Endowment: $60,000

Proceeds from a Mississippi Valley Oilseed Processors Association endowment support the Annual Conference of the Oilseed Processing Clinic. The clinic is jointly sponsored with the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Southern Regional Research Center and the National Cottonseed Products Association.

A scholarship fund at Texas A&M University-Kingsville supports a student in a cotton-focused discipline. The fund was created from memorial scholarship funds commemorating the service of the late Foundation executive director, George Slater.

Meister Publications Grant: $2,500

Samuel Walton, a North Carolina State University student who was raised on a cotton farm in southeastern North Carolina, was the recipient of the 2003 Cotton Grower Millennium Grant. The agricultural business management major plans to combine his education and farming skills learned from his father and return to the family farm.

The $2,500 scholarship goes to a college student majoring in agriculture and planning a career in the cotton industry.