McClendon to Lead the National Cotton Council in '08

Larry McClendon, a Marianna, AR, cotton ginner, was elected chairman of the National Cotton Council for 2008. Named during the NCC's annual meeting Monday, he served as the NCC's vice chairman in 2007, and succeeds John Pucheu, a Tranquillity, CA, producer.

Larry McClendon

McClendon was the Cotton Grower magazine Cotton Achievement Award winner for 2006.

President and manager of McClendon, Mann and Felton Gin Company in Marianna, McClendon also operates a cotton and grain farm in Lee County and serves on the board of Staplcotn cooperative.

Active in national, regional and state associations, he is past president of the National Cotton Ginners Association, Southern Cotton Ginners Association and the Arkansas Agricultural Council. He has served on numerous NCC panels, including chairing both its Budget Committee and Marketing Loan Working Group in 2007. He currently chairs the NCC's Farm Policy Working Group and is a member of its Doha Strategy Task Force.

The recipient of numerous industry awards, McClendon was the 2002 Southern Cotton Ginners Association Ginner of the Year and in 2003, he received the Horace Hayden National Ginner of the Year award. In 2006, he received Cotton Grower magazine's Achievement Award, in recognition of growers who are outstanding innovators, sound stewards of the environment and leaders in the cotton industry and their communities.

The NCC's vice chairman for 2008 is Jay Hardwick, a Newellton, LA, cotton producer.