Plains Cotton Growers, Inc. Announces 51st Annual Meeting Speaker Line-up

Extracted from "COTTON NEWS" Friday, February 22, 2008                 By Shawn Wade

Plains Cotton Growers, Inc., is pleased to announce it will conduct the organization's 51st Annual Meeting on Friday, April 4, 2008. PCG's meeting will be held in the Banquet Hall of the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center in conjunction with the Texas Cotton Ginners Association Convention and Trade Show April 3-4, 2008 in Lubbock.

PCG's Annual Meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. with registration, and the program will start promptly at 9 a.m. Primary topics of discussion at the PCG meeting will include an overview of the current political climate and the potential impact this year's presidential election will have on agriculture and trade policy; a farm bill issues update; and a 2008 commodity price and energy outlook.

Keynote speaker for this year's PCG meeting is Washington, DC-based political and agricultural analyst Jerry Hagstrom. Hagstrom, who is a Special Correspondent for the National Journal's Congress Daily, has been asked to present his thoughts on the political landscape heading into the 2008 presidential election, what direction agriculture and trade policy might take under a new president and how these changes might impact implementation of a new farm bill.

"We are extremely pleased to have secured the participation of Jerry Hagstrom for this year's annual meeting," notes PCG Executive Vice President Steve Verett. "Having been involved in the reporting of agriculture and legislative issues in Washington, DC for over two decades, we are looking forward to hearing his thoughts about the upcoming presidential election and how a changing political landscape could impact agricultural issues in the future."

Joining Hagstrom on the program will be John Miller, founder of Southwest Agribusiness Consulting of College Station, Texas. Miller will present his thoughts on the outlook for commodity and energy prices and the market forces that will shape the 2008 production season. Rounding out the meat of the PCG annual meeting program will be an update on the farm bill.

Current PCG president Mike Hughes, of Lamesa, will preside over the meeting and PCG Executive Vice President Steve Verett will report on the status of PCG operations and activities. Plains Cotton Improvement Committee Chairman Dale Swinburn will review the activities of the Plains Cotton Improvement Program.

Additional information about the PCG Annual Meeting and a final program will be available to attendees prior to the meeting.

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Extracted from "COTTON NEWS" 

Cotton Inc To Offer Free Cotton Marketing Workshop; Reserve Your Spot Today

Get your calendars out and pencil in your plans to attend this year's "Cotton Price Risk Management and Pricing Strategies Seminar" sponsored by Cotton Incorporated, in cooperation with Plains Cotton Growers, Inc.

The free seminar is designed to help producers develop and sharpen their individual cotton marketing skills and develop market-based strategies for managing price risk for the 2008 marketing season.

This year's workshop will be held on Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at the Holiday Inn Hotel & Towers, located at 801 Avenue Q in Lubbock. The workshop will run from 8:30 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. Lunch will be provided to all workshop participants.

Workshop topics include: "Why are options on cotton futures critical to your business?"; "What can options do for you and how?"; and, "Actionable hedging strategies."

Instructors for this year's seminar will be retired Texas A&M Extension Economist Dr. Carl Anderson and Mr. Mike Stevens of Swiss Financial.

The program will also include a 2008 Production Cost Outlook by Dr. John Robinson of Texas A&M University; a Market Outlook by Cotton Marketing Specialist Dr. O.A. Cleveland; a presentation on hedging Counter-cyclical payments by Kelli Merritt, from CropMark, Inc., in Lamesa; and a session on practical application of the skills and information provided during the workshop by Cotton Specialist Mike Stevens.

For information about the conference contact Jeanne Reeves at Cotton Incorporated (919-678-2370) or Shawn Wade at Plains Cotton Growers, Inc. (806-792-4904).

Registration is required for the conference and participants can register by telephone or email. Telephone registrations should be directed to Kay Wriedt (919-678-2271). Email registrations should be addressed to: kwriedt@cottoninc.com