Steve Bullard, general manager of BCT Gin in Quitman, Ga., was named the 2022 Ginner of the Year by the Southeastern Cotton Ginners Association during the annual meeting of Southern Cotton Growers/Southeastern Cotton Ginners Association Jan. 20 at the Marriott Myrtle Beach Grand Dunes in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

In presenting the award to Bullard, Southeastern vice president Ben Evans, manager of Coffee County Cotton Gin in Douglas, Ga., said Bullard has been in the cotton business for well over 30 years and has served the cotton industry tirelessly.

Evans noted that service is one of the criteria for selection of the award, and that the letters of support of Evans’s nomination went “on and on about his service to his farmers, his board, and the youth in his community.”

“Our nominee is not only a ginner but a certified crop adviser, and he takes that role just as seriously as he takes the gin. Known as a ginner first, it’s obvious he sees the crop adviser role as beneficial to the gin. As he told one of the nominators, ‘It’s pretty simple. If the customers get the most out of their land, we’ll have more cotton to gin,’” Evans said.

“He’s been described as a working manager, and anyone who’s tried to keep up with him during gin season and peanut season, will tell you it’s not easy, and that golf card hardly ever gets a chance to cool down. Quality is just another one of the criteria the committee looks at when selecting a Ginner of the Year. And this gin has always had producers in the Georgia Cotton Quality Awards,” Evans said.

Bullard is a 2006 graduate of the Cotton Leadership Program and a delegate to the National Cotton Council. He serves on the Southeastern Board of Directors, and most recently served as the chairman of the transportation and labor committee. Bullard began working at BCT Gin in 2003 when the gin he was working for was bought. He was promoted to general manager in 2019.

In accepting the award, Bullard said Southeastern is a great organization that gave him the opportunity to meet people that he would have never had the opportunity to meet if he never left South Georgia.

“You feel good about leaving home when you have a good staff. I have a good staff. They’ve always taken care of things. They’ve been very supportive. I do enjoy this industry. I’m soon retiring, but I’m not going far. I do appreciate this award.”