Marianna, Arkansas
April 2, 2007
Eastern Arkansas will be the focus
of the University of Arkansas
System on Friday with a morning meeting of the U of A Board of
Trustees in the new Dan Felton, Jr. Building at the Lon Mann
Cotton Research Station on Hwy. 1 South, followed by a
dedication program for the U of A Division of Agriculture
facility.
Claude Kennedy, Lon Mann Cotton Research Station director, said
the public is invited to the dedication program at 1 p.m. on
Friday. Formerly the Cotton Branch Experiment Station, the
research station's name was changed in September 2005 to honor
the late Lon Mann of Marianna, who was a leader in Arkansas and
Mid-South agriculture.
Milo Shult, the U of A System's vice president for agriculture,
said, "These improvements at the Marianna station illustrate a
strong commitment by the U of A System and the Division of
Agriculture to serving the people of eastern Arkansas."
Other Division of Agriculture units in the region are the
Northeast Research and Extension Center at Keiser, the Rice
Research and Extension Center at Stuttgart, the Southeast
Research and Extension Center at Monticello, the Arkansas Forest
Resources Center at Monticello, the Lonoke Agricultural Center,
and branch experiment stations in Jackson, St. Francis and Desha
counties.
The Dan Felton, Jr. Building, named for another state and
regional leader from Lee County, replaces the station's
headquarters facility built in 1926. The project was made
possible by contributions of more than $500,000 from June Mann
and family, Counts M. Felton and family, the Soil Test Review
Board, Jim Lindsey, Arkansas Seed Dealers, Stanley and Charlene
Reed, Southern Cotton Ginners, Bob and Barbara McGinnis, Dr.
Jessamine Gist and Tom Gist, Clyde and Martha Hogan and Larry
and Betty Jo McClendon.
The Felton Building is attached by a covered breezeway to the
Eastern Arkansas Soil Testing and Research Laboratory building.
The 6,628-square-foot addition includes a 160-seat auditorium
with kitchen in addition to offices, a laboratory and a
library/conference room. The design is by Architecture Plus,
Inc., of Fort Smith. Triple MC of Monticello was general
contractor.
Lon Mann, who was inducted into the Arkansas Agricultural Hall
of Fame, operated a cotton gin started by his father, which is
now the McClendon, Mann and Felton Gin Co. He was president of
the National Cotton Council of America, the National Cotton
Ginners Association and Agricenter International. He received
the 2000 Horace Hayden Cotton Ginner of the Year Award in
recognition of outstanding leadership to the U.S. cotton
industry, superior customer service and civic contributions.
Mann was president of the Mid-South Ginners Council, the
forerunner of the Southern Ginners Association, and of the
Agricultural Council of Arkansas. He received the University of
Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service Cotton Achievement Award
and the National Cotton Council Harry Baker Award.
Dan Felton, Jr., was a farmer, cotton ginner, merchant, and
cattleman. He was a leader in both the livestock and row crop
sectors of agriculture in Arkansas and the Mid-South, serving as
president of the Arkansas Registered Angus Association and the
Agricultural Council of Arkansas.
Felton was a member of the Arkansas State Board of Education,
the Commission on Higher Educational Finance, and the board of
the Marianna/Lee County School District. He was a member of the
St. Francis Levee Board and the First National Bank at Marianna
board of directors. He served as chairman of the Lee County
Democratic Central Committee for 30 years.
The Cotton Branch Experiment Station was established in 1926 as
one of the first three permanent branches of the Arkansas
Agricultural Experiment Station. The Legislature appropriated
$7,000 to purchase 160 acres of land and build a brick
residence, brick office, mule barn, machine shed, shop and gin
building.
The Eastern Arkansas Soil Testing and Research Laboratory was
added in 1954 and now provides soil and plant analysis services
statewide in addition to a soil fertility research program
directed by Dr. Morteza Mozaffari.
The Lon Mann Cotton Research Station includes 653 acres of field
research plots. Projects include annual tests of cotton,
soybean, wheat and corn cultivars and breeding lines, as well as
research and extension programs on cropping systems for eastern
Arkansas. |
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