The Oscar Johnston Lifetime Achievement Award for 2022 was given to the late Kenneth Hood, a former vice president, treasurer, vice chairman, and chairman of the National Cotton Council (NCC). He was honoured during the NCC’s 2023 annual meeting, which took place February 10–12 in Dallas, Texas. Hood’s daughter Lou Ann Petro received the medal from outgoing NCC Chairman Ted Schneider.
The yearly honour was created in 1997 and is named in honour of Oscar Johnston, whose vision, brilliance, and unwavering efforts were instrumental in creating and putting together the NCC. The honour is given to a person who contributed significantly to the cotton industry through the NCC during their active business careers. Additionally, people who made a contribution to the sector and showed leadership are honoured with the award. Throughout that service, I gained endurance, character, and honesty.
Hood, a native of Mississippi and alumnus of Mississippi State University, was involved in regional, national, and local cotton groups. He served on various NCC committees and chaired a number of them, including the Steering Committee for the Beltwide Cotton Conferences, the Cottonseed Segment Representation Study Committee, and its Bale Moisture Task Force. Up until his passing, he continued to advise the NCC.
He was a past president of the Delta Council and served as the chairman of the American Farm Bureau Federation’s cotton committee. He was also instrumental in the elimination of the boll weevil in Mississippi.
In Gunnison, Mississippi, at Perthshire Farms, Hood was a partner. He was the company’s founder and chairman of the board. A board member of Staplcotn, president of Hood Gin Company and Hood Equipment Company, and a precision agriculture consultancy organisation.
Schneider claimed that Hood’s eagerness to use cutting edge technologies had a good impact on his producer peers. Farmer of the Year, the Cotton Grower magazine’s Cotton Achievement Award, the Progressive Farmer magazine’s Man of the Year in Service to Mississippi Agriculture, the High Cotton Award from Farm Progress, the Outstanding Conservation Farmer Award from the Delta Council, the Ag Profile Leadership Award from the Delta Business Journal, and the Cotton Marketer of the Year award from the New York Cotton Exchange are some examples. He was also named ginner of the year by the National Cotton Ginners Association and the Southern Cotton Ginners Association, and he was most recently chosen for the Cotton Research and Promotion Hall of Fame’s 2022 class by Cotton Incorporated.
Despite receiving so many honours, Schneider remarked, “Kenneth maintained his humility and was always prepared to volunteer his time, whether it was for local producers and researchers, association employees, or journalists. He was a dynamic and forward-thinking producer, and
In addition to his readiness to collaborate with experts on projects targeted at enhancing farming efficiency, Kenneth’s willingness to adopt new technologies was unrivalled, according to Schneider. “He motivated others to follow suit.”
Hood was also a prominent leader in beginner organisations. He served as the National Cotton Ginners Association and Southern Cotton Ginners Association president in the past.Hood, who received the Harry S. Baker Award from the NCC in 2008, has received other honours throughout the years, including the Cotton Farming Magazine ginner as well as a dedicated leader and servant.”
