Ron Craft, a cotton producer and fifth-generation ginner from Plains, Texas, was elected National Cotton Council chairman for 2018.
Craft
Named during the NCC’s 2018 annual meeting held in Fort Worth, Texas on February 9-11, Craft moves up from NCC vice chairman to succeed Ronnie Lee, a cotton producer from Bronwood, Georgia.
Active in many state and national farm and gin organizations, Craft has held numerous other NCC leadership positions. Among those are director, chairman of the Packaging and Distribution Committee, and member of the Executive Committee, Cotton Flow Committee and Quality Task Force.
Craft also was chairman of the National Cotton Ginners’ Association in 2017, after serving as its president in 2016. He is a member and past president of the Plains Ginners, Texas Independent Ginners and Texas Cotton Ginners associations. He also is the secretary and treasurer of the Yoakum County Farm Bureau.
Craft, the owner of New-Tex Gin Company in Plains, also is a co-owner of Lov-Cot Warehouse in Lubbock.
Very involved in his community, Craft is a graduate of the Texas Law Enforcement Academy and a sergeant for the Yoakum County Sherriff’s Department. He is treasurer of First Baptist Church in Plains. He has two sons who reside in Texas – Landon of Midland and Brandon of Lubbock.
The NCC’s vice chairman for 2018 is Mike Tate, a Huntsville, Ala., cotton producer.
Re-elected as NCC vice presidents for 2018 are: Kent Fountain, ginner, Surrency, Ga.; Robert Lacy, Jr, cottonseed processor, Lubbock, Texas; Coalter Paxton, III, warehouseman, Wilson, N.C., Kevin Brinkley, marketing cooperative executive, Lubbock, Tex.; Joe Nicosia, merchant, Cordova, Tenn.; and David Hastings, textile manufacturer, Mauldin, South Carolina. Re-elected as secretary-treasurer is Barry Evans, a producer from Kress, Texas.
NCC staff officers include: Dr. Gary Adams, NCC president and chief executive officer; Reece Langley, vice president, Washington Operations; Craig Brown, vice president, Producer Affairs; Dr. Jody Campiche, vice president, Economics and Policy Analysis; Dr. Bill Norman, vice president, Technical Services; Harrison Ashley, vice president, Ginner Services; and Fred Johnson, vice president, Administration and Program Coordination.