Industry News

Texas Ginning Leader Cliff Granberry
Had Historic Impact On Cotton Industry

Cliff Granberry, a native of Celeste, Texas, and the owner and founder of the ginning equipment company that bears his name, passed away in July at the age of 96. Granberry started his career in 1939 when he began working in the warehouse for Lummus Cotton
where he prepared shipments. Rising through the ranks of the company, he eventually moved to the Lummus office in Fresno, Calif., in 1958 where he was the sales and operations manager for the western United States.

He eventually moved his family back to Dallas and established Allied Specialties Co., which later became Cliff Granberry Corp. Cliff traveled across the Cotton Belt from California to the Carolinas and sold innovative products that were designed to make cotton gins run more efficiently and safely. Some of those products included the Injecto-Flameout Fire Suppressor, Spee-D-Flow Seed House, Sensotron Early Warning Device and Cliff Granberry line of Moisture Monitoring products.

In 1961, Cliff established Cotton Gin Supply Co., in Phoenix, Ariz., which provided a full line of replacement and repair parts for cotton gins in Arizona. In 1978, he sold Cotton Gin Supply Co. and Cliff Granberry Corp. to his children. He retired from the daily involvement in the ginning industry, but soon moved to Granbury, Texas, where he began a long and prosperous period in real estate development.

In 2009, Cliff and his wife Mary Helen moved to Harrisonburg, Va., to be near their daughter Carolyn Harvick and her husband BJ. Cliff is survived by Mary Helen, his wife of 73 years, three children, seven grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Twin sisters Lorraine Lovell and Lucille Gholston also survive him.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Sunnyside Communities Fellowship Fund, 600-L University Blvd., Harrisonburg, Va. 22801. This fund benefits patients in the nursing care wing of Sunnyside where Cliff spent his last months.

Deltapine, Monsanto Host Texas Field Day

Deltapine and Monsanto hosted the Advance Farming Systems Showcase in College Station, Texas, earlier this summer with more than 300 farmers attending from as far as the Rio Grande Valley, Northeast Texas, Gulf Coast and San Angelo.

The event focused on research and new technologies across cotton, corn and soybeans, including variety trials, resistant weed management and proper PGR management of cotton varieties, which is becoming more critical in order to maximize yield potential.

Tom Owen, Area Business Manager for Monsanto, says he is excited about the company’s research related to water use efficiency in cotton. Water-use efficiency trials are being conducted across Texas to measure performance of commercial and pre-commercial varieties under various water conditions and soil types. The information gathered is used to place the right cotton variety to the right dryland and irrigated acre to maximize yield potential and minimize risk.

“Monsanto is committed to developing cotton varieties and technologies that will allow farmers to make more cotton with less water – something badly needed in the state of Texas,” Owen says. “Through our water utilization research, we understand the impact of limited water at a variety level and can provide growers the best variety recommendation to maximize profit potential.”

Georgia Family Wins PhytoGen Retailer Prize

After Sylvester, Ga., cotton producer Arlen Davis discovered several missing buttons, he told his wife he needed new shirts. She told him to wait a bit.

Angie Davis, secretary/treasurer of Sumner Peanut Co., had plans to hit the Web armed with a $1,000 gift card from Cabela’s courtesy of PhytoGen cottonseed. That was the award to Mrs. Davis as the grand prize winner of PhytoGen’s First Team Retailer Sweepstakes. By all accounts, she’s an ideal winner.

Sumner Peanut belongs to an elite group of retailers identified by PhytoGen as First Team Retailers – the MVPs of PhytoGen dealers. Membership in the program is based on sales performance, product service and promotional activities of PhytoGen.

For more information, call (800) 258-3033 or go to www.PhytoGenYields.com.

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