The Georgia Cotton Commission is pleased to announce the guest speakers at the Commission鈥檚 2026 Mid-Year Meeting scheduled for Wednesday, July 29, 2026, at the Nesmith-Lane Conference Center in Statesboro. The Mid-Year Meeting is held in conjunction with a UGA Cotton Pre-Harvest Workshop conducted by members of the UGA Research & Extension Cotton Team. The UGA Cotton Pre-Harvest Workshop will feature sessions where attendees will receive a 2026 crop update and defoliation considerations, pre-harvest economic update and marketing considerations and late season pest management considerations.
The Georgia Cotton Commission is pleased to announce the guest speakers at the Commission鈥檚 Mid-Year Meeting scheduled for July 29, 2026. The UGA Cotton Pre-Harvest Workshop will feature sessions where attendees will receive a 2026 crop update and defoliation considerations, pre-harvest economic update and marketing considerations, and late-season pest management considerations.
About the Georgia Cotton Commission
The Georgia Cotton Commission, established in 1965, is a producer-funded organization located in Perry, Georgia at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter. Georgia鈥檚 cotton growers vote by referendum every three years to maintain the Commission鈥檚 operation. Producers pay a per bale assessment enabling the Commission to invest in programs of research, promotion and education. The Georgia Cotton Commission advances the interest of the cotton producers by supporting programs of the National Cotton Council (NCC) and Southern Cotton Growers. The Commission鈥檚 budget supports these organizations, and it is by virtue of this support that all cotton growers are members of each.
The National Cotton Council is a central organization that represents all seven segments of the United States cotton industry: producers, ginners, warehousers, cottonseed, merchants, cooperatives and manufacturers. The NCC acts both to create favorable legislative and regulatory policies and to promote and increase profitability of the cotton industry in worldwide fiber and cottonseed markets through their international arm, Cotton Council International. The Southern Cotton Growers, Inc., provides representation at the regional level and serves as the policy-formulating group for the southeastern cotton producing states.
Conference Location
The Georgia Cotton Commission鈥檚 Mid-Year Meeting & UGA Cotton Pre-Harvest Workshop will be held at the Nessmith-Lane Center on the 橘子视频, Statesboro Campus, July 29, 2026.
Nessmith-Lane Center
847 Plant Dr
Statesboro, GA 30458
- Rusty Rumley is a Senior Staff Attorney with the National Agricultural Law Center and was born and raised on a family farm in Cogar, Oklahoma. After law school, Rumley earned is LL.M in Agricultural Law at the University of Arkansas. He is licensed to practice law in the states of Oklahoma and Michigan. His primary areas of interest are in estate planning, taxation, business organizations, landowner liability, industrial hemp, leasing, and agritourism.
- Bev Sylvester is the Chief Marketing Officer at Cotton Incorporated where she leads the organization鈥檚 marketing strategy across the textile and apparel value chain and consumer marketplace. In this role, she oversees trade and consumer marketing initiatives designed to increase the use of cotton in products and reinforce global demand for cotton. Sylvester brings more than 20 years of senior-level fiber marketing and brand leadership experience and has spent her career working closely with mills, manufacturers, brands, and retailers to translate fiber performance, sustainability, and traceability into market-relevant value propositions.
- Deltapine/Bayer Crop Science
- Tama USA
- John Deere
- Farm Credit Associations of Georgia
- Phytogen/Corteva Agriscience
- Ag Insurance Advisors
- Ag Technologies
- American National
- Americot, Inc.-NexGen Atlantic & Southern Equipment
- Cotton Solutions Cooperative
- Chandler Equipment
- CNI ECOM Trading
- Georgia Farm Bureau
- Koch Agronomic Services
- Langston Companies
- Nutrien Ag Solutions
- Olam Cotton/Liberty Cotton Cooperative
- ProCot Cooperative/Allenberg Cotton Company
- R.M. King
- S&K Packaging
- Sentinel Ag
- Silveus Southeast
- Smith Farm Supply
- Southeast AgNet
- Staplcotn
- Syngenta
- Synovus
- Tidal Grow Agriscience
- Tidewater Equipment/CASE-IH
- Timac Agro USA
- Triangle Chemical Company
- Triangle Insurance
- Valent USA
- Valley Irrigation
Contact Us
The Georgia Cotton Commission
P.O. Box 1464
Perry, GA 31069
taylor@georgiacotton.org