Greg Sikes, a first-generation farmer in Bulloch County, was reappointed last month to the Georgia Cotton Commission Board of Directors by the Commodity Commission Ex-Officio Committee.

Along with Sikes, Morgan County cotton farmer John Ruark and Toombs County cotton farmer Chris Hopkins were each reappointed to another three-year term on the Commission’s board of directors, according to a release from the Georgia Cotton Commission.

Farming with his wife and son, Sikes produces cotton, peanuts and corn in Bulloch, Bryan, Screven, Burke, Jenkins and Treutlen Counties.

A Bulloch County native, Sikes worked locally in agribusiness and for local farmers for several years after earning a degree from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. A co-worker helped him get started farming on his own 25 years ago, and his operation has grown steadily ever since.

Sikes regularly conducts trials on his operation with UGA Cooperative Extension and private industry. He is also invested in several agribusinesses that complement his farming operation.

Sikes is a director of Southern Cotton Growers and a producer delegate to the National Cotton Council of America. He also is a member of the National Peanut Buying Points Association board of directors and the advisory board for Bulloch First Bank.

Sikes and his wife Jennifer live in the Nevils community and have two adult children. The Sikes family attends Statesboro Primitive Baptist Church.

John Ruark is a multi-generational farmer, and farms cotton, soybeans, wheat, cattle and poultry alongside his father, son, and cousin in Morgan, Walton, and Oconee Counties, as well as operates a cotton gin, Bostwick Gin & Supply. He has been a member of the Commission’s board since 2014.

Chris Hopkins is a first-generation farmer and has served on the Commission’s board since 2017. He grows cotton, peanuts, corn and rye in Toombs and Tattnall Counties. He holds degrees from the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences.

The Georgia Cotton Commission is a producer-funded organization located in Perry. It was founded in 1965 and Georgia cotton producers pay an assessment enabling the Commission to invest in programs of research, promotion and education.

For more information about the Commission, go to www.georgiacottoncommission.org.