Agricultural Hall of Fame - MARSHALL W. GRANT

MARSHALL W. GRANT
MAY 19, 1924 - MAY 31, 2019

Marshall W. Grant’s name will likely forever be linked to cotton, thanks to his vision, drive and leadership in helping establish the Boll Weevil Eradication Program, a voluntary assessment program for cotton farmers which continues today.

In nominating Grant, David Parrish, chief operating officer of the N.C. Cotton Producers Association, credits Grant’s work to leading “to the eradication of the most destructive pest in the history of cotton, thereby restoring the economic viability of cotton production for generations of farmers in North Carolina and across the Cotton Belt.”

By the late 1970s, North Carolina had seen cotton production drop from a high of almost 2 million acres to around 40,000 acres because of the destruction by the boll weevil.

Grant organized a group to hire cotton scouts and began regional control efforts, but soon realized that to be effective these efforts would need to be broader to keep the boll weevils from migrating to nearby fields, other regions and other states.

When the National Cotton Council decided to proceed with a full-scale boll weevil eradication trial, Grant volunteered for North Carolina to be a trial location and then traveled extensively across the state helping organize eradication committees and educating producers on the program’s importance and the need for grower funding.

That early trial helped establish the foundation and structure for the Boll Weevil Eradication Program that exists today. In 1985, North Carolina declared the state boll weevil free and cotton production today has returned to a 500,000-acre level. Today monitoring and trapping of cotton fields continue to ensure any re-emergence of the destructive pest is dealt with quickly.

The economic benefits of the Boll Weevil Eradication Program to producers are estimated at $644 million annually. It is also estimated that 10 million pounds fewer insecticides are used to produce the U.S. cotton crop. 

Elected to the North Carolina
AGRICULTURAL HALL OF FAME
2020