Once upon a time, there were as many as 750 producers who attended Beltwide Cotton Conferences, but now it’s down to about 200 – so it’s time for a change.

Producer/ginner Kenneth Hood of Mississippi has attended 32 Beltwides over the years and he was on the steering committee that made the decision on how to update the meeting for today’s world. “We felt it’s better to keep the Beltwide for the technical conferences, for our research papers, and for our consultants,” he said. “Then we’ll have regional meetings to help me address particular problems in my area.”

Listen to my interview with Kenneth here: Kenneth Hood interview

Check out photos from the conferences here: 2013 Beltwide Cotton photo album