It was Nov. 29, and harvest season had stretched a bit longer than normal. Andy Wendland watched his son, Drew, aim the picker into the last acres of the family’s 2023 cotton crop.

With dedication to stewardship, quality production and leadership, along with a generational approach to making it all work, Andy Wendland is the 2024 Farm Press/The Cotton Foundation High Cotton Award winner for the Southeast.

“I’m proud to get the honor, very proud, but all we are able to accomplish every day is done with a team effort,” he said. “I may be the offensive coordinator or maybe even sometimes the referee, but without the team we have now, we wouldn’t get it done.” 

Autauga Farming Company is spread over Autauga and Montgomery counties just west of Montgomery, Ala. If you can grow it in a field, orchard, or raise it in a pasture or pen, they’ve likely done it. 

In 2023, they planted 2,400 acres of row crops, which included 1,100 of cotton and about 600 acres of corn. They also planted oats, wheat and sesame. They maintain a large brood-herd and manage about 2,200 acres of pasture and hay. 

The High Cotton award is sponsored by: Americot, BASF Stonevilee/FiberMax, Deltapine, Dyna-Gro, Helena, John Deere, PhytoGen, Syngenta