LUBBOCK, TX – (Sept. 19, 2023) – Today, at its 70th Annual Meeting, Lubbock-based Plains Cotton Cooperative Association announced further fiscal year-end distributions to its grower-owners, totaling $8.68 million. Since the cooperative’s founding in 1953, it has served as a value-added service to cotton growers. Currently, PCCA has approximately 12,000 active grower-owners, with members in 49 out of 50 states. Moreover, it has handled 114 million marketing and pool bales since its inception. The business has also achieved $18 billion in total sales since the seasonal pools’ inception in 1988.
PCCA’s President and CEO, Kevin Brinkley, commented on PCCA’s 70 years of business and shared his eagerness for the next 70. He stated, “This significant milestone is an opportunity to reflect on the cooperative’s rich history and the challenges faced in the past fiscal year while embracing a forward-looking strategy for the future.”
In his annual report, Brinkley acknowledged the difficulties PCCA encountered during the fiscal year 2023, with a record drought leading to an overall abandonment rate of 75% of its acres. The cooperative recorded a net margin loss of $1.3 million, partly attributed to a $2.3 million book expense resulting from de-risking the defined benefit plan. Excluding this expense, PCCA would have reported a small profit of approximately $1.0 million.
Despite these challenges, Brinkley emphasized that PCCA remains in strong financial condition, thanks to the foresight of its grower-owners. The cooperative’s mission to provide value-added marketing programs and services, ensuring fair prices for cotton growers, remains unwavering.
In other business, Directors for the following PCCA districts were re-elected by the membership: Steve Moore, District 8; Billy Eggemeyer, District 9; Frank DeStefano, District 10; and Marvin Beyer, District 11.
Founded in 1953, PCCA is a Lubbock-based marketing cooperative owned by farmers in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and New Mexico, dedicated to supplying sustainably-grown, high-quality cotton fiber around the world. In addition to cotton marketing, PCCA also owns cotton warehouse facilities in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, and develops and offers software programs and networks to local co-op gins that help add value to their grower-owners’ cotton.
