Lia Guthrie – Publisher/Vice President
A native of Leland, Miss., Guthrie grew up on a family farm. She graduated from Mississippi State University with a bachelor’s degree in Horticulture and a master’s degree in Agricultural Extension and Education. While in graduate school, she studied under cotton geneticist Dr. Bill Meredith at the USDA-ARS Delta States Research Center in Stoneville, Miss. After graduation, Guthrie worked for Cotton Grower magazine as field editor, followed by five years as a market news reporter for the USDA-AMS Flue-Cured Tobacco Division.

She was heard daily on regional radio programs with market reports for the area. Guthrie began writing for Cotton Farming in 1992. She became regional sales representative in 1993. She was promoted to national accounts manager in 1995 and associate publisher in 2000. Guthrie served on the executive committee of the National Agri-Marketing Association for three years, and she participated in the program committee for the Cotton Foundation. She became vice president/publisher in 2005.

Carroll Smith – Editor
Carroll Smith is a veteran agricultural journalist with more than 17 years of experience. She is editor of Rice Farming and senior writer for Cotton Farming, as well as Special Projects manager for all publications owned by One Grower Publishing. She worked on the magazines in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and rejoined the staff in 2005 when One Grower Publishing purchased the magazines.

Smith, former editor of Mid-South Farmer and Louisiana Farmer magazines, has also worked at Cotton Grower magazine during her long and distinguished career.

A native of Ferriday, La., Smith grew up on a family farm where her father grew cotton, soybeans, wheat and sorghum. She has lived and worked in the Mid-South throughout her magazine writing career and has covered and written about all crops grown in this production region.

She has earned numerous awards for her writing – including two second-place awards from the American Agricultural Editors Association. Smith holds a B.S. degree in English and Mathematics from the University of Southwestern Louisiana and an M.A. degree in English from Delta State University.