Travis Satterfield, a rice and soybean producer from Benoit, Miss., who has long been a leader in a number of Delta and Mississippi agricultural organizations, will serve as the 74th president of the Delta Council in 2009-10.

Satterfield, who is probably best known for his work with the Mississippi Rice Council and with the Delta Council and Mississippi Farm Bureau’s rice committees, also grows corn, cotton, soybeans and wheat in the Long Shot, Miss., community.

“All my adult life, I have watched the Delta Council in action,” said Satterfield, as he accepted the gavel from outgoing President John Phillips of Holly Bluff, Miss. “I have seen that the Delta Council approach to problem-solving works best — from the inside — where its leaders make sacrifices to get things done.

“People agree on a need and on the course to address it, and they go back to their local communities and begin building support to accomplish their goal.”

Satterfield is a director of Producers Rice Mill; director and past chairman of Delta Farmers Advocating Resource Management (Delta F.A.R.M.); director and past Bolivar County chairman of the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation; and a past Delta Council vice president.

He and his wife, Nancy, have four sons, Dwayne, Dennis, Darrell and Kirk. He is a member and deacon in the Baptist church and a graduate of Delta State University.

Serving as vice presidents for the Delta Council in 2009-10 will be Mattson Flowers, Clarksdale; Peter Jackson, Rolling Fork; Davis Owen, Robinsonville; Lisa Percy, Greenville; Jim Robertson, Indianola; and Danny Walker, Greenwood, all from Mississippi. Gary Gaines, president of the Land Banks of North Mississippi, will serve a second year as treasurer.

Irene Long of Indianola was recognized as the Good Middling Lady of the Year. Coined after the term “good middling,” the highest grade of cotton, the Good Middling Lady Award recognizes individuals who have made significant efforts to promote community and economic vitality in the Mississippi Delta.

The Delta Council also presented the following achievement awards for 2009:

• Outstanding Rice Producer — Mike Wagner of Sumner, Miss.

• Outstanding Soybean Producer — Alan Blaine, Starkville, Miss.

• Outstanding Cotton Ginner — David T. “Buddy” Cochran, Avon, Miss.

• Conservation Farmer — Jimmy Hollingsworth, Hollandale, Miss.

• Outstanding contributions to Hardwood Forestry — Randy Rousseau, Mississippi State University.

• Outstanding Contributions to Aquaculture — Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.

• Researcher of the Year — Peggy Thaxton, Delta Research and Extension Center, Stoneville, Miss.

• Membership Chairman of the Year — Bernie Jordan, Yazoo City, Miss.