Steve M. Brown is a 1978 graduate in agronomy and soils from Auburn University and later earned MS and PhD degrees in agronomy/weed science at Auburn and Texas A&M, respectively. He worked as an assistant county agent in a cotton pest management role for a couple of years in northern Alabama and then served as a research associate in a Cotton Incorporated-funded project on no-till cotton from 1980 to 1984. From 1987 until 2008, he served as an Extension weed scientist and cotton agronomist for the University of Georgia in Tifton. He worked for a major seed and biotechnology company from 2008 until 2019, when he joined the faculty at Auburn. His entire career has focused on cotton.
Byron K. Cole is Deputy Director of Grading, for all classing offices at the Grading Division, USDA-AMS Cotton & Tobacco Program. Byron’s career with C&T has afforded him the opportunity to actively engage with the industry on various matters impacting both the Program and stakeholders. He has a passion for the advancement of innovation in the cotton classing operations and, under his leadership, the Memphis Classing Office has been an effective proving ground for many of C&T’s technological advancements. He has served as a trainer and mentor to many C&T employees and lends his support and expertise on recruitment and other strategic initiatives. Prior to his tenure as an Area Director, Byron served as the Assistant Area Director and supervisor in the Macon, GA Classing Office for 15 years. He began his career with C&T in the Abilene, TX Classing Office in 1989 as a field representative/commodity grader.
Greg Townsend is the Area Director at the USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service, Cotton Program. Which provides accurate, efficient, and unbiased cotton classification services to the Far West cotton industry. From his office in Visalia, California they serve the cotton industries in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. In Visalia, they class the entire American Pima cotton crop and all of the Upland cotton produced and ginned in CA, AZ, NM and El Paso.
