Jun 04, 2021
CLEVELAND, MS – Senators, seersucker, catfish, cotton, and rice are a few of the highlights from the 86th Annual Meeting of the Delta Council. After being cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s event was back to the usual pomp and circumstance.
The event was held in-person at Delta State University’s Bologna Performing Arts Center here. “We are very grateful to be able to gather safely once again to continue this long-standing regional tradition of Delta Council Day on the Delta State University campus,” said Paul Hollis, a producer from Sharkey County who serves as president of Delta Council.
The keynote speaker during the business meeting was U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. Senator Hyde-Smith has served since 2018, when she was appointed to fill the seat of the late U.S. Senator Thad Cochran. She has been an avid supporter of U.S. agriculture in her time in Congress and has been a good friend to the U.S. rice industry.
“Senator Hyde-Smith has been a champion for the Delta and for U.S. rice producers," said Kirk Satterfield, a local rice farmer and Delta Council vice president. "We look forward to continued work with her and the entire Mississippi delegation as we look to the next Farm Bill.”
As a celebration of Delta agriculture, the event has always included an unspoken dress code: wear cotton. This becomes apparent with the annual Wear Cotton Contest. The day closed with the long-standing tradition of a picnic lunch of fried catfish on the Quadrangle of the Delta State University campus.
The Delta Council, headquartered in Stoneville, Mississippi, supports partnership and growth for the progressive development and enhancement of the entire Delta Region. The Board of Directors and committees are made up of representatives from all the Delta counties and municipalities, making it a trusted voice for the region’s agriculture industry and all phases of the economy in the Delta region.