Cotton leader appointed to FAPC Industry Advisory Committee
By Mandy Gross
FAPC Communications Services Manager
11-7-2007
STILLWATER, Okla. – A cotton industry leader has been appointed to the Industry Advisory Committee of the Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center on the Oklahoma State University campus.
The Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives appointed Jay Cowart, director of warehouse operations for Plains Cotton Cooperative Association (PCCA) in Altus, Okla., to the committee.
“We are pleased to have Mr. Cowart on our Industry Advisory Committee,” said J. Roy Escoubas, FAPC director. “The FAPC will benefit from his experience and leadership in the agriculture industry.”
Cowart said he is excited about the opportunity to serve on the committee.
“I am honored to be considered,” he said. “The committee already has some cotton knowledge, but my past experience has provided me with an understanding of issues beyond just warehousing of cotton, including marketing and textiles.”
As director of warehouse operations, Cowart manages the cotton warehouse storage and shipping facilities of the Oklahoma Cotton Cooperative Association located in Altus, Okla.; Frederick, Okla.; Liberal, Kan.; and Memphis, Texas and the Rolling Plains Cooperative Association located in Sweetwater, Texas; Hamlin, Texas; Rule, Texas; and Flower Mound, Texas.
Cowart is responsible for the management of all labor, facilities, equipment and budgets and the forecasting and planning of cotton warehousing and shipping for customer orders.
“One of my main responsibilities is overseeing the storing and protecting of the integrity of the cotton once we receive it from the gins,” Cowart said. “Once the cotton has been purchased, I help make sure the cotton is ready for the buyer.”
Cowart said he is preparing for a busy year. PCCA’s warehouse storage and shipping facilities have a capacity of storing 1 million bales, and it is projected the facility will receive 1.5 million bales.
Cowart said he is working on an effective way of stacking the bales for both efficient use of space and shipping. Communication between the buyer and the warehouse helps give the facility more lead time to accommodate for efficient shipping.
Cowart has held several local, state and national positions that he believes will help him in his new role as a member of the Industry Advisory Committee.
Some of these positions include board member and secretary of the Oklahoma Cotton Council, warehouse delegate and board member to the National Cotton Council, secretary of the Cotton Growers Warehouse Association, member of the Bill Fitzwater Cooperative Chair Advisory Committee and member of OSU’s Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources Dean’s Advisory Committee.
“I am looking forward to working with the FAPC,” Cowart said. “I think what the FAPC is doing is very beneficial to the state of Oklahoma.”
Cowart attended Western Oklahoma State College and received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from Oklahoma State University.
Cowart resides in Altus, Okla., with his wife, Donna, and has one son, one stepson and daughter-in-law, and two granddaughters.
For more information about the FAPC, call 405-744-6071 or visitwww.fapc.biz.
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Oklahoma State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, State and Local Governments Cooperating. The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, or status as a veteran, and is an equal opportunity employer.
