[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17804]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 THE RETIREMENT OF DR. CARL G. ANDERSON

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CHARLES W. STENHOLM

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, September 7, 2004

  Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I would like to share with my colleagues a 
story that appeared in the August 30, 2004 edition of the Lubbock 
Avalanche Journal, regarding Dr. Carl G. Anderson and his retirement, 
both as the Cotton Marketing Specialist for the Texas Cooperative 
Extension Service and as a professor with Texas A&M University's 
Department of Agricultural Economics.
  As a West Texas cotton farmer, I will sorely miss Dr. Anderson's 
expertise, especially the calm, rational manner with which he makes 
sense of the cotton market. I often had the task of following Dr. 
Anderson in speaking at many a lunch or dinner, so I can attest to the 
respect and admiration he has among cotton farmers. He was, and will 
remain, a tough act to follow. I know my fellow cotton farmers, as well 
as all others involved in the cotton industry in Texas feel the same 
way.
  I should note that Carl's love of agriculture was passed on to his 
daughter, Caroline Anderson Rydell, who worked for one of our former 
colleagues and was a staff member of the House Committee on 
Agriculture. Caroline remains in Washington and is working on behalf of 
American farmers and ranchers at the American Farm Bureau Federation.
  It is my understanding that Carl will continue to be play a role on a 
part-time basis for another year. Those of us involved in cotton 
production in Texas will have Carl's expertise for one more year before 
we have to get through a planting, harvesting, ginning and marketing 
season without him!
  I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his 22 years 
of service as the Cotton Marketing Specialist for the Texas Cooperative 
Extension Service, and I wish him well as he begins to enjoy a well-
deserved retirement with his wonderful wife, Shirley.

                   Ag Expert Has Cotton in His Blood


                 anderson retiring but staying in field

                            (By Joe Gulick)

       Carl Anderson's involvement in the cotton industry began as 
     a boy. He recalls picking cotton, dragging a heavy cotton 
     sack behind him, and repeatedly hoeing the stubborn and 
     prolific Johnson grass that sprouted in the black Texas soil 
     of the family farm outside Taylor, near Austin.
       ``We had never even dreamed of Round-Up in those days,'' he 
     said with a laugh, referring to the modern herbicide.
       The many hours of hard work in the hot sun established 
     character and built within him the desire to work hard and do 
     well, he said. They also encouraged him to approach 
     agriculture from a different perspective--one in which he 
     used his head and not his hands.
       ``It got me started on thinking,'' he said. ``Thinking is a 
     lot easier than running a gooseneck hoe and picking cotton.''
       The intellectual approach led to Anderson earning a 
     doctorate from Texas A&M and becoming one of the top cotton 
     marketing experts in the nation. His many awards and 
     accolades attest to his success.
       He will retire on Tuesday as professor and extension 
     economist with A&M's Department of Agricultural Economics. 
     But fortunately for the Texas cotton industry, he will 
     continue to work part-time.
       Roger Haldenby, vice president of operations of Plains 
     Cotton Growers Inc., said Anderson is one of the leading 
     cotton economists in the Cotton Belt--from California to the 
     Carolinas--but is especially well known in Texas.
       ``Carl has been ahead of the curve on all of the market 
     moves and has given sound and solid advice to cotton farmers 
     on how they can market, hedge or keep their cotton from 
     season to season,'' Haldenby said.
       Dale Swinburn, who farms south of Tulia, called Anderson a 
     great asset to the Texas cotton industry.
       ``He is a real educator and helps farmers understand the 
     futures market. He is a great guy and is very approachable.''
       Anderson, who attended college on the GI Bill, worked as an 
     economist for the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas for about 
     eight years after receiving his doctorate. He worked with 
     agricultural lenders in the fledgling cattle feeding 
     industry, primarily in the Texas Panhandle and Amarillo area.
       In 1978, A&M created the position of cotton marketing 
     specialist, and Anderson returned to his alma mater to take 
     the job.
       He recalls that he was surrounded by challenges, not the 
     least of which was the fact that West Texas cotton quality 
     was lacking at that time.
       ``The producers were very good at producing, but they did 
     not think beyond the gin,'' he said. ``At that point, the 
     producer was pretty much at the mercy of the market--with the 
     exception of a few co-ops.''
       Improving the quality of local cotton was a gradual process 
     that was helped greatly by the change from hand evaluation of 
     strength and quality of cotton fibers to machine evaluation. 
     Cotton grown in West Texas today has higher fiber strength, 
     longer fibers and better yields, he said.
       Asked about the most rewarding part of his career, he 
     replied, ``Seeing farmers that have adapted to change, 
     whether it was new systems of farming, new varieties or 
     learning to price cotton when prices were most favorable.''
       He has seen tremendous changes in the cotton industry since 
     his childhood, from machinery, herbicides and insect control 
     to chemicals and developments in genetics.
       ``I remember my father plowing with mules,'' he said. ``The 
     first tractors were two-row tractors with steel wheels. Now 
     they have four-wheel drive machines that do at least 12 rows 
     at a time.''
       Anderson remembers spending the summer of 1949, after he 
     graduated from high school, participating to a small degree 
     in growing and harvesting the Texas cotton crop that still 
     stands as a state record. As he retires, it appears the state 
     will top that record this year.
       ``It is exciting to me that, with about half the acreage we 
     had then, we can exceed the 6 million bales we had in 1949,'' 
     he said.
       The future of cotton in Texas will probably be on even 
     fewer acres, he said. Some of the marginal acreage for cotton 
     now will probably be used to grow other things, but the acres 
     that remain will be higher-yielding ones.
       And the United States will continue to be challenged by 
     international competition, particularly from China, which 
     Anderson said dominates the world in cotton production. One 
     problem has been the shrinking of the U.S. textile industry 
     and the strength of China's textiles, he said.
       ``The only way we can compete with them is to be the most 
     efficient, from field to fabric,'' Anderson noted.
       He is honored by a graduate assistant scholarship fund that 
     has been established in his name at A&M. While he is looking 
     forward to slowing down a bit, his remaining on part-time 
     status after his retirement will be welcomed by those who 
     have come to depend on him.
       ``I have heard people introduce him as the dean of 
     cotton,'' said Billy Tiller, who farms west of Littlefield. 
     ``I take my hat off to him for serving us for all of these 
     years. What would we do without him?''

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