The National Cotton Ginners Association (NCGA) held its 2019 annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas, in early February, during which the NCGA’s 2018-19 Charles C. Owen Distinguished Service Award was presented to Dr. Ed Barnes, senior director, agricultural and environmental research, Cotton Incorporated.

The Charles C. Owen Distinguished Service Award honors those who have provided a career of service excellence to the U.S. cotton ginning industry. “Dr. Barnes has dedicated so much of his career to research projects designed to advance ginning industry technologies and the business of agriculture in general,” says Harrison Ashley, vice president, Ginner Services, National Cotton Council. “He is most deserving of this award.”

Barnes has been a member of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) for 30 years, serving as the chair of its Engineering for Sustainability Committee, and is a trustee of its foundation. In 2013, he was awarded the National Conservation Systems Precision Agricultural Researcher of the Year award, and in 2014 was the recipient of the ASABE Mayfield Cotton Engineer of the Year Award.

In 1995, he joined the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service as an engineer at the Water Conservation Laboratory in Phoenix, Ariz., where he developed uses for remotely sensed data for agricultural management with a focus on water optimization.

He joined Cotton Incorporated in 2002 as an associate director and was named division director in 2007. “Ed continues to design and oversee research projects that advance so many next generation farming technologies,” says Kater Hake, vice president, Agricultural and Environmental Research, Cotton Incorporated. “His insights into precision agriculture and ginning technologies will benefit growers for decades.

Barnes serves as an advisor on the NCC’s Bale Packaging Committee and is a member of the NCGA’s Technology Committee.