With its 2016 dividend payout, Farmers Cooperative Compress (FCC) has a lot to celebrate--$1 billion worth, following dividend distribution to its producer-owners.  The $1 billion disbursement is “unprecedented.

Texas is the country’s No. 1 cotton-producing state and the cotton industry has a $3.5 billion impact on the Texas economy.

“The continued success of Farmers Cooperative Compress is a direct correlation to the hard work performed by our producer-owners,” said Ron Harkey, president of FCC. “We are proud to be a part of such a significant achievement. This cash return on our producers’ investment will help ensure the viability of farms across West Texas and shows the strength of U.S. cotton in the domestic and global markets.”

West Texas is home to the world’s largest cotton-producing region including 41 counties in cotton production. There are 45 cooperative gins that deliver cotton to FCC facilities. FCC warehouses and delivers about 35 percent of the cotton ginned in Texas, which accounts for roughly 17 percent of the U.S. crop. Founded 68 years ago by producers who had a vision they could accomplish more collectively than individually, FCC was established as a way to successfully and affordably house cotton domestically and distribute it globally from West Texas.

FCC collaborates with two other Lubbock-based cooperatives: Plains Cotton Cooperative Association, a producer-owned cotton marketing association, and PYCO Industries, a producer-owned cottonseed oil mill. The combined efforts of these three regional cooperatives, along with local cooperative gins, provide producer-owners with an effective means to process, market, warehouse and deliver/export millions of bales of cotton annually.