In late July, the Commodity Commission Ex-Officio Committee met to make appointments to the Georgia Cotton Commission Board of Directors. Morgan County cotton farmer John Ruark, Toombs County cotton farmer Chris Hopkins and Bulloch County cotton farmer Greg Sikes were each reappointed to three-year terms on the Commission’s board of directors.
John Ruark
Ruark is a multi-generational farmer, and farms cotton, soybeans, wheat, cattle and poultry alongside his father, son, and cousin in Morgan, Walton, and Oconee Counties. He also operates a cotton gin, Bostwick Gin & Supply. He has been a member of the Commission’s board since 2014. Ruark is a director of Cotton Incorporated, Southern Cotton Growers, and the Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation of Georgia. He also serves as an alternate producer delegate of the National Cotton Council of America.
Chris Hopkins
Hopkins is also a first-generation farmer and has served on the Commission’s board since 2017. He grows cotton, peanuts, corn and rye in Toombs and Tattnall counties. He holds degrees from the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences. Hopkins and his wife, Marilynn, started their operation on 50 acres in 2005. Locally he serves as the president of the Toombs County Farm Bureau and the chairman of the community board of directors for Ameris Bank.
Greg Sikes
Sikes is a first-generation farmer, and along with his wife and son, produces cotton, peanuts, and corn in Bulloch, Bryan, Screven, Burke, Jenkins, and Treutlen Counties. Sikes, a Bulloch County native, worked locally in agribusiness and for local farmers for several years after earning a degree from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. Sikes regularly conducts trials on his operation with UGA Extension and private industry. He is also invested in several agribusinesses that complement his farming operation. Sikes is a director of Southern Cotton Growers and a producer delegate to the National Cotton Council of America.
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 this and other topics please call 478-988-4235 or visit us on the web at www.georgiacottoncommission.org.