Farm Director, KC Sheperd, is talking with Rann Williams about his late father’s induction into the Cotton Research and Promotion Program Hall of Fame.
The 2023 honorees of the Cotton Research and Promotion Program Hall of Fame were chosen from nominations made by Certified Producer and Importer Organizations and voted upon by a Committee of Cotton Incorporated Board of Directors.
His father, Murray Williams, was an innovative grower from Oklahoma who has been recognized on local, state, and national levels for his leadership and dedication to the industry. A proponent for soil and water conservation, Murray Williams oversaw his family farming operation of over 6,500 acres. In the late 1960s, he was the first grower in Oklahoma to use the new pre-plant herbicide Treflan®. On the forefront of new practices, he was the first in his area to implement the installation of laser-guided drainage pipes, aiding in land production, as well as the first to build tail-water pits to allow for the recycling of irrigation water.
Additionally, Murray Williams donated his land to Oklahoma State University for cotton test plots, helping to further advance cotton production in the state. Along with being on the cutting edge of technology on the farm, he served on the National Cotton Council, the National Cotton Board, and the Cotton Incorporated Board of Directors. For his contributions to the industry, Murray Williams was recognized by Cotton Farming Magazine as the United States Cotton Farmer of the Year in 1980, and by Progressive Farmer Magazine in 1983 as the Man of the Year in Service to Oklahoma Agriculture.
Growing up, Williams said cotton was his family’s main crop.
“It was my dad’s love,” Williams said. “Previously, when he has done an interview, he pretty much said that cotton is in his blood, and I truly believe that.”
Williams said that as a child, he remembers playing an integral role in day-to-day operations beside his father on his family’s farm, as the help was greatly needed.
“He had a lot of faith,” Williams said. “I never saw worry or concern on his face. He always had a plan, and he carried through with that plan.”
Williams said his father was unphased by weather setbacks because he always had a plan.
“We was looked up to by the neighbors on a local level, a state level, and at a national level,” Williams said. “He wasn’t afraid to try new things and new methods…”
Traveling the cotton belt to observe different operations, Williams said his father would come back and apply the same science and technology to his operation and improve on it. Williams said he believes that his father would like to be remembered as an honest and faithful servant to God, his family, and his community.
“He was involved, whether it was the fair, the livestock show, the church, the school system…,” Williams said.
