My love of cotton began first as a subject of study for its fascinating mysteries. In the 40+ years I have studied this botanical immigrant, I have met many students of the plant from different backgrounds and disciplines who...
I feel sorry for kids growing up today without a farm connection. They’re disconnected from how food and fiber are grown and distracted by modern technology — cell phones, streaming entertainment and social media. That’s far from the party-line...
The top item on my bucket list has been revised: “To write something worthwhile that will outlive me.” The “outlive me” addition is not really new, just previously undisclosed. It’s embarrassing to confess vanity.
To be clear though, I’m too...
Ms. Smith has published me twice on this page (2020 and 2022) and now granted a third and final “My Turn” essay. I state final in that my three siblings and I sold our 188 acres of dryland cotton...
In the four seasons I have been in my position, I have enjoyed contributing to the Specialists Speaking section of Cotton Farming magazine, but I always flip to the last page to read the “My Turn” section.
Some of...
After being on Cotton Incorporated’s Board of Directors for many years, I am approaching the end of my service. I spent many of my years at CI as a member of the Agricultural and Environmental Research committee, and it...
We place a lot of stories and information in this publication that feature leadership programs, people who are proven leaders and many other individuals with varying degrees of leadership.
From a young age, we begin to learn what a good...
Farming has always been difficult, but it’s even more so today. Prices are low, input prices are high, and, in many cases, lending institutions are making it tougher to get necessary funding.
That makes it an inopportune time to ask...
While sweeping the floor of our farm shop one October morning, I was fondly reminded of the late Julius Bembry. Enough dirt had accumulated under my watch to start a small garden. That never happened when Julius was around....
I grew up in a little town in southeast Texas where the nearest cotton field was nearly two hours away. And yet I’ve worked in the cotton industry my entire career; how did that happen?!
When I graduated high school,...
My path to the cotton world really began in the wheat and alfalfa fields of southern Kansas and northwest Oklahoma. In 1966, when I was 12 years old, I began working on local farms, starting out with hay baling...
I started picking cotton when I was 10, Mama made a pick sack out of a 25-pound flour sack, and I was expected to fill it up, empty it and pick another. All the kids at that time started...
Our family’s roots run deep in farming, specifically cotton. For some, “farming” may just be a word, but for 10 generations, it has been a lifestyle for the Trotter family.
My name is Nancy Willingham Trotter. I was born in...
Although I’m too young to join the Coke Club, I had a delightful visit with those fellows one Friday afternoon. Ten were present for the full session. Two others stopped by.
Earlier that day, I’d asked Cecil McGraw when James...
For decades, I’ve known that I have a problem. Only recently, though, I learned the name of my condition. It is textophobia, the fear of certain fabrics. In my case, that fabric is polyester. My aversion to it probably...
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