Some of the attendees at the Georgia Cotton Commission meeting on Jan. 31.

TIFTON — The Georgia Cotton Commission’s 11th Annual Meeting and University of Georgia Cotton Production Workshop was held at the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center on Jan. 31.

The annual meeting brought together farmers with industry vendors and researchers from UGA.

More than 25 people were pre-registered for the event and an additional 200 registered the day of the event.

Richey Seaton, executive director for the GCC, said that the conference is “a good place to drink from the firehose of knowledge,”

Attendees were able to attend workshops on cotton agronomics and physiology, cotton varieties for 2018, economics and marketing, irrigation and precision ag technologies, insect pest management, plant pathology and soil fertility.

The Cotton Commission also brought in various speakers from all areas of the industry and gave out awards.

The 2017 Georgia Quality Cotton Awards were cosponsored by the Georgia Cotton Commission (GCC) and Bayer CropScience and administered by the UGA cotton team.

According to a press release from the GCC, the purpose of the awards is to “recognize producers and ginners of high-quality cotton fiber and to identify their general management practices for the benefit of other growers.”

The producers and their gins received a plaque and the winning producers received a $500 cash award. The UGA County Extension Agent for each winner was also recognized as they work closely with the farmers during the growing season.

The winners are :

Region 1

Less than 500 acres – Robert Rawlins of Turner County, Sconyers Gin and Warehouse with agent Will Gay. 500 to 1,000 acres – Lee Mays of Wilcox County, Sconyers Gin and Warehouse, with agent Andrew Sawyer. Greater than 1,000 acres – Donnie Keene of Wilcox County, Sconyers Gin and Warehouse, will agent Andrew Sawyer.

Region 2

Less than 500 acres – Van Hiebert of Jefferson County, Midville Warehouse, with agent Pam Sapp. 500 to 1,000 acres – Buckhead Creek Farms of Jenkins County, Midville Warehouse, with agent Jason Mallard. Greater than 1,000 acres – Sandeford Farms of Burke County, Midville Warehouse, with agent Peyton Sapp.

Region 3

Less than 500 acres – Charles Sumner of Tift County, Omega Gin Company, with agent Scott Carlson. 500 to 1,000 acres – G.A. Farms of Tifton County, Omega Gin Company, with agent Scott Carlson. Greater than 1,000 acres – Ken and Brian Ponder of Tift County, Omega Gin Company, with agent Scott Carlson.

Region 4

Less than 500 acres – Walter Powell of Colquitt County, The Cotton Gin, with agent Jeremy Kichler.

Ken Hall Farms of Worth County, Omega Gin Company, with agent Blake Crabtree. 500 to 1,000 acres – Creek Bank Farms of Miller County, Clover Leaf Gin, with agent Brian Creswell. Greater than 1,000 acres – Ken Hall Farms of Worth County, Omega Gin Company, with agent Blake Crabtree.

The final award given was the overall Best Cotton Award. This was awarded to the Georgia cotton producer with highest loan value and premium. The 2017 Best Cotton Award went to Robert Rawlins with a loan value of 54.14 cents/lb and a premium of 4.65 cents/lb.

Follow Eve Guevara on Twitter @EveGuevaraTTG.