Dahlen Hancock Named 2019 Cotton Achievement Award Honoree
January 20, 2020
As cotton harvest on the Texas High Plains winds down for 2019, Dahlen Hancock is tracing the familiar fields of the family farm with his tractor and disc, running ahead of a wheat drill.
It’s not that he’s making a dramatic shift in his crop mix. A cotton farmer through and through, Hancock is embracing the evolving nature of crop production in his area – adding cover crops of wheat and rye to his fields to help improve soil health, matching his limited irrigation water to the right acres and expanding his crop rotation to help benefit his cotton crops.
“This area is traditionally cotton after cotton after cotton,” he says. “We’ve gotten to the point where we’ve cottoned our soils to death. By watching neighbors to the north and friends that I’ve come to know in other parts of the U.S., I could see that we needed to improve our rotation program. So that’s what we’re doing. We’ve already seen that corn works pretty well in a rotation with cotton.”
That willingness to look for new solutions – plus an innate curiosity about how the entire cotton industry works – drives Hancock’s success both in his fields and throughout the cotton industry. His ability to handle both sides of cotton’s equation while providing key leadership locally and globally earned Hancock the 2019 Cotton Grower Cotton Achievement Award, sponsored by NexGen brand cottonseed from Americot.
Tradition of Farming and Service
The family farming operation – DK&J Farms in New Home, TX – started when Hancock’s grandfather D.W. Hancock put down roots (literally and figuratively) in the area in 1941. Hancock is a fourth generation farmer, following in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, grandfather, and those of his dad, Donald Hancock.
“I knew my grandfather very well,” recalls Hancock. “He and my dad were both inspirations and wonderful mentors to me. They very much formed who I am. I leaned on my dad for his knowledge and advice.”
Hancock started farming with his dad in 1980, and he added his own 160-acre block of cotton in 1981. Today, the farming operation includes his sons Zach Walker and Matt Hancock, 2,450 acres of irrigated cotton, 2,550 acres of dryland cotton and 330 acres of corn as a rotation crop. And although the farm helps keep him grounded, Hancock admits that his sense of adventure continually keeps him challenged.
“I’m not a guy who stays in a box,” he notes. “Never have been, never will be. I want to learn. I just don’t have ‘can’t do’ in my vocabulary. I knew I always wanted to serve.”
He comes by that honestly. His dad – who was involved with the local gin board, school board, the Cotton Board and as a long-time Executive Board member of PYCO Industries – set the example for Hancock’s other career in industry service.
“I mentioned my interest in getting involved to Steve Verett at Plains Cotton Growers about 20 years ago,” he recalls. “I told him I don’t know how I can help or what I can do, but I figured he could plug me in somewhere. I didn’t realize at that time what that meant. But it’s all good.”
In those 20 years, Hancock has served as a director and chairman of New Home Co-op Gin; board member and marketing pool representative for Plains Cotton Cooperative Association; past chairman of Cotton Incorporated; and past president and chairman of Cotton Council International. He’s also a National Cotton Council delegate, serving on the organization’s Sustainability Task Force Committee and was a member of the first class of the NCC’s Policy Education Program in 1999.
He has represented the U.S. cotton industry as part of delegations to 12 different countries, adding a cotton producer’s perspective to meetings with buyers, mills and retailers.
“After my second or third overseas trip, it really sunk in with me that we do make a difference,” says Hancock. “I would sometimes hear folks at home complain that our checkoff dollars weren’t really helping us. But when you see all the pieces of the supply chain – from field to fabric to end use – you realize the superior product that we have and the great promotion we have behind it.
Ah-Ha Moments
To hear Hancock talk about his industry promotion experiences, it’s not hard to see that several of them provided what he calls “ah-ha moments.”
“When you visit mills around the world, they usually want to talk price,” he says. “But at the end of the day, it always comes back to the quality of our product. They like our classing system. They like and want our cotton. There’s a real appreciation for the final product, and that was an education for me.”
Hancock also recalls a 2012 visit to Dubai and Turkey as part of an executive delegation. “We were involved in some early talks about increasing cotton sales into Bangladesh and Pakistan. At the time, we were doing most of our business in that region with Turkey, but we were working to push the envelope with the other countries. Now, full circle, we’re seeing the fruit of those meetings today, as those countries, along with Vietnam, have stepped up to fill the gap for some of what China is not buying.”
His travels with Cotton Incorporated and Cotton Council International also provided an appreciation of the behind-the-scenes work of the organizations’ staffs. “A lot of U.S. producers don’t get to see what a wonderful team we have, how smart they are, and how hard they work on our behalf every day. When you see the level of expertise they bring to the table to promote U.S. cotton, I get really excited and wish I could bottle up some of their energy and passion to bring home.”
Obviously, there’s still work to be done. “Cotton contamination is still an issue, and we have good educational efforts in place,” points out Hancock. “We have to remember to do everything in our power to keep producing the superior, clean cotton that our customers want.
“Our whole industry needs something to push us to a new ah-ha moment where we can really see the light at the end of the tunnel – a long range, long term future,” he adds. “I think we can do it through sustainability by rotating crops to improve soil health. I’ve watched this evolve, and it’s bringing change across the Cotton Belt – even on my own farm.”
An Eye to the Future
Hancock is quick to give credit to his family and farm team – from his wife, Jody; to their sons; to his sister Donette Case who manages the farm books in addition to her banking job; to his long-time foreman Abel Escobedo and his family – who help keep the farming operation running smoothly, especially when he’s travelling.
“There’s no way I could have served and done the things I’ve been able to do without them,” he says. “I’ve had to learn to delegate and trust.”
There’s also one other family member that helps keep Hancock’s eye firmly on the future – his 6½-year-old granddaughter Cora, who’s already developing her sixth generation passion for farming. “She lights me up,” laughs Hancock. “We have more fun just playing in the dirt, and she’s starting to understand what’s involved in farming.”
He remains optimistic about the future of cotton and his farm, despite the current tough times facing agriculture.
“We’re working hard and trying to do a good job out here,” he says. “I just hope we can continue to hold this together. Everything about farming today is wonderful when it comes to technology except for one thing – the cost of production has outrun our current cotton prices. We need fair and equitable trade and better commodity prices. We’re in a tough spot on the High Plains right now. The MFP payments helped bridge some of the gap on prices. But if we don’t get cotton prices back into the mid-70s range, it’s going to continue to be tough times for most folks.”
As for the next generation of farmers and leaders, Hancock offers some advice.
“Change is inevitable,” he states. “Embrace it. Be open minded. I used to try to be an early adapter and be the first to try and test something new. Now that I’m older, I realize I don’t have to be first. I just want to see how it’ll impact my farm’s bottom line.
“And all farmers need to take time to encourage younger farmers, not just our own kids,” he adds. “We need to find the next generation of leaders that are out there who will carry what we’re doing for the farm and industry to the next level. You might think you can’t make a difference, but you can. One person connected with another group of like-minded folks can find the future together.
“Don’t be afraid of the challenge of the future. Like it or not, it’s upon us. And with the good Lord’s guidance, we’ll find the way.”
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