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Conaway praised by the Southwest cotton industry.

Shelley E. Huguley, Editor

August 1, 2019

2 Min Read
Conaway, Haygood, Roley
Lynn County Grower Walt Haygood, center, thanks Chairman Mike Conaway, left, for his faith and his work on the farm bill, as John Roley, right, looks on at the 2018 Southwest Council of Agribusiness.Shelley E. Huguley

Representative Mike Conaway’s (R-TX) announced this week he will not seek re-election in 2020. The cotton industry responded with gratitude, praising his work ethic along with his leadership.

“The National Cotton Council congratulates Representative Conaway for his extraordinary dedication to American farmers, including cotton farmers,” NCC Chairman Mike Tate said in an NCC news release Wednesday.

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Conaway worked tirelessly to bolster the cotton provisions of the 2014 farm law, noted Tate, specifically making seed cotton eligible for the Agriculture Risk Coverage/Price Loss Coverage (ARC/PLC) program as part of a budget agreement in early 2018.

“Congressman Conaway exercised valuable leadership in bolstering cotton’s safety net because U.S. cotton farmers were being hurt by weak global prices and many were being negatively affected by multiple bad weather events,” Tate said. “The entire industry wishes Mr. Conaway and his family all the best in their future endeavors.”

The Texas and Oklahoma cotton industry had this to say about Chairman Conaway's announcement:

See, Conaway to retire from Congress

  • "Words cannot even begin to express the gratitude we have toward Congressman Conaway. He has served not only his district but all of agriculture with honor and integrity," tweeted Plains Cotton Growers President Stacy Smith. "Congressman Conaway is a champion for farmers and ranchers and we thank him for his tireless dedication and commitment to ensuring that agriculture remains strong and viable. We wish him, his wife Suzanne, and their family the very best in his retirement."

  • "We appreciate Chairman Conaway for his service and contributions to agriculture. Not only did he deliver a farm bill, but he also did the heavy lifting of getting cotton back into the commodity title through the Bipartisan Budget Agreement," said South Texas Cotton & Grain Association President Jon Gwynn.

  • "Congressman Conaway has not only done a tremendous job for his district but for Southwest agriculture. He's been a huge support for agriculture in our area and across the U.S.," said Oklahoma Cotton Council Executive Director Harvey Schroeder. "We appreciate all he has done for us. We are going to miss him and wish him the best."

About the Author(s)

Shelley E. Huguley

Editor, Southwest Farm Press

Shelley Huguley has been involved in agriculture for the last 25 years. She began her career in agricultural communications at the Texas Forest Service West Texas Nursery in Lubbock, where she developed and produced the Windbreak Quarterly, a newspaper about windbreak trees and their benefit to wildlife, production agriculture and livestock operations. While with the Forest Service she also served as an information officer and team leader on fires during the 1998 fire season and later produced the Firebrands newsletter that was distributed quarterly throughout Texas to Volunteer Fire Departments. Her most personal involvement in agriculture also came in 1998, when she married the love of her life and cotton farmer Preston Huguley of Olton, Texas. As a farmwife, she knows first-hand the ups and downs of farming, the endless decisions made each season based on “if” it rains, “if” the drought continues, “if” the market holds. She is the bookkeeper for their family farming operation and cherishes moments on the farm such as taking harvest meals to the field or starting a sprinkler in the summer with the whole family lending a hand. Shelley has also freelanced for agricultural companies such as Olton CO-OP Gin, producing the newsletter Cotton Connections while also designing marketing materials to promote the gin. She has published articles in agricultural publications such as Southwest Farm Press while also volunteering her marketing and writing skills to non-profit organizations such as Refuge Services, an equine-assisted therapy group in Lubbock. She and her husband reside in Olton with their three children Breely, Brennon and HalleeKate.

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