Macon Times

The Georgia Cotton Commission (GCC) presented its inaugural Trustees Awards at the 2023 GCC Annual Meeting January 25 in Tifton. Louie Perry, Jr. of Moultrie and Mike Lucas of Cochran are the recipients of this year's Trustees’ Awards. 

 

The Trustees Awards are awarded to individuals who have dedicated themselves to the advancement of the cotton industry in Georgia. Producers, research and extension specialists and other cotton industry associates of high character and integrity who have given exceptional service to the cotton industry are eligible to receive this award.

The award was named after the Georgia Colonial Trustees who set out to make Georgia a premier agricultural colony to expedite agriculture productivity. This led to the trustees establishing a 10-acre “Trustees’ Garden” in Savannah in 1734 to display “modern” farming techniques of the time. Many crops were experimented with that first year, but cotton was the crop that thrived and has been planted in Georgia every year since.

Perry began his farming career in partnership with his father on Pineywoods Farms in Moultrie in 1962. His great-great grandfather established Pineywoods with a 490-acre land grant from the state of Georgia in 1830 and over the decades, the acreage has expanded to 1,300.

Perry is the fifth-generation farmer to own, operate and live on this farm, which has always produced cotton. Pineywoods Farms is the oldest farm to grow cotton in the southern part of the state. In his youth, Perry began raising purebred limousine and commercial cattle, which he continues today in addition to growing cotton, peanuts, grain, hay, corn and tobacco.

Perry attended the University of Georgia in Athens and majored in Agribusiness. He settled down with his wife, Becky, and together they raised their children and are now enjoying their grandchildren. The Perrys are members of First Presbyterian Church of Moultrie.

Through his 48-year farming career, Perry received a number of ag awards and remains extremely active with numerous agriculture groups. Some of his service has included serving as chairman of Georgia Cotton Commission Board from 2000 to 2012, former president of Southern Cotton Growers, Inc., producer delegate and board advisor to the National Cotton Council (NCC), director of Cotton Incorporated and serving as chairman in 2006, and as president of the Georgia Cattleman's Association. Since age 13, Perry has maintained his membership with the Colquitt County Farm Bureau and currently serves on its board. He continues to volunteer with many local organizations.

Mike Lucas grew up in Cochran and began working on his grandfather’s farm as a teenager. After graduating from Bleckley County High School, he decided upon farming as his chosen path.

Lucas' original 105-acre farm, passed to him by his grandfather, has expanded to over 500 acres today. It is a diversified row crop operation featuring major crops of cotton, peanuts, wheat and soybeans. His farm also includes pasture for beef cattle and a small cow/calf operation. Lucas' family represents the third generation on this farm.

Lucas is a dedicated member of his Bleckley County community and stays active through a variety of meaningful volunteer roles. Throughout his years of service to agriculture, he served as a director of the Georgia Cotton Commission and as chairman from 2012 to 2017, director of the Cotton Board and Southern Cotton Growers and producer delegate of the National Cotton Council. He also served as an active volunteer with the Bleckley County Farm Bureau, Georgia Farm Bureau, Bleckley County FSA Committee, Bleckley County Extension/4-H County Board member and member on the Bleckley County Industrial Development Authority Board. He currently serves as the secretary/treasurer of the Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation of Georgia, Inc.

Lucas is married to the former Sharon Britton, who also grew up in Cochran, and they are members of Salem Baptist Church. Their son Blake is an alumni of the University of Massachusetts and Ross University and is currently a veterinarian in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

Original source can be found here.