University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service agents are an important resource for Georgia cotton farmers. Agents are known for delivering timely and accurate information, which is instrumental for the success of Georgia’s farmers. They also perform community specific research, education and outreach programs designed to help farmers maximize yields and efficiency.
The Georgia Cotton Commission sponsored the King Cotton Awards to recognize outstanding contributions of county agents to Georgia cotton producers for the 20th year in a row.
The Senior Award honors agents with 10 or more years of experience. The Junior Award, named the Allen B. Fulford Award, honors the accomplishments and memory of Allen B. Fulford, who served as a county Extension agent and state cotton agronomist. This award credits those with less than 10 years of service. The awards were presented at the virtual 2020 Georgia Association of County Agricultural Agents Annual Meeting & Professional Improvement Conference in November.
The Georgia Cotton Commission is proud to salute the excellent work that County Extension Agents do for farmers across the state.
The 2020 Senior King Cotton Award Winner is Tucker Price of Cook County, where he serves as County Extension Coordinator as well as Agriculture & Natural Resources Agent. A native of Ashburn, Georgia, Price has 25 years of UGA Extension Service experience in Quitman, Crisp and currently Cook Counties. In addition to holding producer education programs regarding agronomics and defoliation, Price conducts local cotton research and demonstrations. The priorities for the local research are determined in collaboration with local growers. Recent trials have been conducted with a focus on white fly monitoring as well as multiple cotton variety trials.
The 2020 Allen B. Fulford Award Winner is Seth McAllister of Terrell County. McAllister has served as the Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent since 2016.
For the last three years, he has also worked on the AgWET team, which is a group of agents and collaborators that have utilized moisture sensors to help producers efficiently manage irrigation for cotton and peanuts. In addition to this work, he has collaborated with the surrounding county agents to implement a statewide Cotton Variety trial for the last two years on the Southwest Georgia Research and Education Center in Plains, Georgia. This data is compiled with all the other statewide variety trials and presented to local cotton producers during our winter production meetings. McAllister has hosted numerous Using Pesticides Wisely Trainings in Terrell County, which is mandatory for growers to attend each year to legally purchase and apply the newest Dicamba herbicides over the top of cotton.
The Georgia Cotton Commission is a producer-funded organization located in Perry, Georgia. The Commission began in 1965. Georgia cotton producers pay an assessment enabling the Commission to invest in programs of research, promotion, and education on behalf of all cotton producers of Georgia. For more information about the Georgia Cotton Commission, please call (478) 988-4235 or on the web at www.georgiacottoncommission.org.