Jimmy Dodson Receives 2014 Cotton Achievement Award
January 6, 2015 Jimmy Dodson, a third-generation cotton farmer from Robstown, TX and a prominent leader in the cotton industry, has received the 2014 Cotton Achievement Award from Cotton Grower magazine.
The Cotton Grower Achievement Award – organized and managed by Cotton Grower magazine and sponsored by Case IH and Deltapine – recognizes and honors growers who are outstanding innovators, sound stewards of the environment, and leaders in their communities, as well as the cotton industry.
Dodson – who is the 45th recipient of the award – was honored during the publication’s annual Cotton Achievement Award Luncheon on January 6, in conjunction with the Beltwide Cotton Conferences in San Antonio.
In accepting the award, Dodson paid tribute to the previous award honorees.
“This is a special group of people,” he said. “Those previous award winners are examples of true leaders and innovators. And those of us who are still in business today are standing on their shoulders for the work they’ve done. It’s a great honor to be here today to receive this award and be affiliated with folks like them.”
Dodson noted the work that the cotton industry – and agriculture as a whole – needs to do in explaining and promoting its image.
“The story that we can tell is a good story,” he reminded the audience. “And even if prices aren’t strong, the yield and quality potential that we see when we hit the bull’s-eye is much higher than we ever expected. We have a lot of good things happening around us. Let’s keep focused on them and let’s innovate and manage these challenges.”
Dodson and his family farm dryland cotton, sorghum and corn in Nueces County near Chapman Ranch. A 1974 summa cum laude graduate of Texas A&M University, he began farming in 1975 and has helped grow the family operation to more than 12,000 acres – including more than 7,000 acres of cotton in 2014. He has a strong history of successfully putting new technologies and innovations to work on the farm.
Dodson’s off-farm involvement in local and industry organizations also make him one of cotton’s more influential leaders.
He served as the 2013 chairman of the National Cotton Council and continues active involvement with the organization. He also served as NCC vice chairman in 2012, and was chairman of the American Cotton Producers in 2010-11. He also was a NCC Board member from 2009-11 and chairman of the Cotton Foundation in 2003-04 after serving as its president in 2002-03.
He is also a past chairman of the Council’s Environmental Task Force and was a member of the USDA Advisory Committee on Agricultural Biotechnology.
Dodson has served for more than 30 years in leadership positions with Farm Credit institutions serving Texas. He is also a director of South Texas Cotton and Grain Association and Gulf Coast Cooperative Gin. In 2008, he was inducted into Texas A&M’s Tyrus Timm Honor registry of former students.
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