Levelland resident Chris Berry was elected President of the Texas Cotton Ginners’ Association at its annual meeting and cotton trade show in Lubbock.
It was the first annual meeting and trade show for the association in nearly three years as the meeting had been cancelled for a couple of years because of the pandemic.
Berry is the office manager at Long S Gin and has been involved in cotton ginning since 2008 when he became manager of Center Point Gin.
He joined Long S in the spring of 2020. Long S Gin, located in northwest Hockley County, serves producers from multiple counties, including Hockley, Lamb, Cochran and Bailey.
Berry grew up in East Texas, graduating from Van High School and Texas A&M.
He moved to Levelland in 1996 as a research technician for the High Plains office of South Texas Ag Research.
He left Levelland for a while to work in a third party warehouse national distribution center which he says helped him make the tran sition to ginning.
He returned to the South Texas Ag Research before becoming manager of the local gin.
He says that with his strong ag background it was an easy transition from research to ginning.
“Once it gets into your blood, you’re stuck. I have loved every single minute of it,” he says. “The people you are dealing with are the best people in the world.
He says the Texas Cotton Ginners’ Association does important work for its members and enjoys nearly 100% membership of the approximately 200 gins in the state with some members from Eastern New Mexico.
“We are facing a lot of challenges,” he says.
“We are directly involved in every aspect of our ginning industry,” he continues.
“We have an excellent staff in Austin. Executive Vice-President Kelley Green makes my role of leading this organization extremely easy,” he continues.
“I just look forward to working with the staff in overcoming challenges over the next year,” he added.
The Texas Cotton Ginners’ Association has a long history of representing the cotton ginning association and cooperating with other ag organizations thoughtout the state and nation to maintain the economic vitality and security of agriculture. TCGA represents its members at the State Capitol in Austin and on Capital Hill in Washington, DC.
Berry started out with the association as a director, served as secretary 2019-2021 and as vicepresident for 2021-2022 before being named president. He will serve into 2023.
He follows David Wied of New Home as president of the association.
Prentice Fred, general manage of Long S, also served as president for two terms.
Berry says that when he is not working, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Randi, of 17 years. As for hobbies, he says he is trying to figure out how to operate his Alaskan saw mill to salvage trees and turn them into usable lumber.
He explains that a tornado knocked down a bunch of big trees around his mom’s home in Van and that he hopes to bring some of those back to Levelland to salvage.
“I’m just getting started but I’m excited,” he says.
“I really just enjoy spending time with my family,” he adds.
He downplays the importance of his job as president of the state ginners’ association, focusing instead on the number one challenge facing the South Plains and Texas today.
“We need a rain. We need Mother Nature to cooperate,” he concludes.