Brad Heffington - Texas Tech University

Issue XXVIII : June 2011
Brad Heffington - Littlefield, TX
Texas Tech University
Story, Photos & Design By: Sa m antha Yates Borgstedt
It’s that time of year again. Cotton planters have been rolling through fields across the High Plains,
and for the most part, they are putting seed in dry ground. As every farmer knows, sometimes Mother Nature
smiles down and grants rain when you need it, sometimes it comes mixed with a little (or a lot) of hail,
and sometimes it just doesn’t seem to come at all.
Brad Heffington, who farms 6,000 acres in Littlefield, Texas, and current president of Plains Cotton
Growers, knows years like this come and go. He has planted his seed, started his pivots, and is now hoping
for the best.
“When you watch dirt fly up behind the planters like it is doing now,” Heffington said, “it doesn’t get
you too fired up about planting.”
Nonetheless, Heffington said all he can do is plant his seed and be patient. He said he really needs a
rain by at least June 5, but he is fearful that a good rain may be accompanied by some bad hail. However, he
Larry Combest Endowed Chair in Agricultur al Competitiveness
ACC NEWSLETTER | | 1

ACC NEWSLETTER | 2
Larry Combest Endowed Chair in Agricultur al Competitiveness
acknowledges that dealing with the weather is
a major part of a farmer’s business, and so he
will take it as it comes.
Heffington said although bad years
come along with the good, he remains thankful
that in 1989 a small town banker took a chance
on him, which allowed him to do what he continues
to love today, farm.
“I was a junior at Texas Tech when some
land became available for me to farm,” Heffington
said. “I tried to get a loan from several
places with no luck. Mr. Lee decided to take a
shot on me, and I am sure glad he did.”
James Lee, of the First National Bank of
Littlefield, must have seen a drive in Heffington
that has continued to grow and prosper to this
very day. Besides striving to learn and remain
educated on seed, fertilizer, and equipment,
Heffington has worked hard to gain knowledge
about the marketing side of his operation.
Heffington, who graduated from Texas
Tech University with a Bachelor’s of Business
Administration and from the Texas A&M
Master Marketer program, uses technical and
fundamental analysis, and stays in tune with
local and world markets. He said being able to
market his cotton has earned him income and
success. He went on to say marketing is a very
important aspect of his business, and he tries to
take advantage of every opportunity he can to
capture the best prices for his cotton.
Heffington earned an average selling
price of $1.08 on his cotton last year, selling
some towards the end for $1.50. He said everything
kept falling in place for him as he grew
and sold his cotton. Rain came pretty steadily,
and prices rose. And although the growing
season may not be as favorable this year as last,
Heffington said he continues to see prices staying
strong.
“If crops remain as dry as they are now,
dryland acres may not be there and our irrigated
production is liable to decrease, which
means prices this fall could stay up,” Heffington
said. “However, those high prices won’t do
much good if we don’t have cotton to sell.”
Heffington said with the rising input
costs farmers have to deal with, they cannot
stand to sell cotton for 60 to 70 cents anymore.
Seed, fuel, labor, fertilizer, equipment, technology,
they have all gotten significantly more
expensive in a short amount of time, making
every cent count to the farmer.
“In order to be successful in farming you
must figure out what pays and what doesn’t,”
Heffington said. “Some technology may cost
Andy Timmons planting grapes.

Larry Combest Endowed Chair in Agricultur al Competitiveness
ACC NEWSLETTER | 3
you a little more up front, but make you more in
the end. Some may not. You just have to figure
out what will be the most profitable on your farm
and go with that.”
Heffington has helped several equipment
and technology dealers test their newest
products on his farm. He has adopted a Case and
John Deere cotton picker with on-board modulebuilding
capabilities. He said that although the
cost of these machines was significant, they have
reduced his need for many other pieces of harvesting
equipment, fuel, and labor.
“I remember having boll-buggies, modulebuilders
and strippers going everywhere,” Heffington
said. “We would have to hire on several more
people to help run everything, and hope everyday
that everyone showed up. With these pickers it
takes one guy to run them, some fuel, and that is
it.”
Heffington also uses Trimble precision agricultural
products that utilize 27 satellites enabling
him to stay within a half-inch variance on all of his
fields. Heffington gives credit to his wife Kim, their
three sons, and his three employees, all of which
have worked for him close to 20 years, for being
knowledgeable of the technology and his farm in
general. He said good help is not always easy to
find, and he is lucky to have had such great help

ACC NEWSLETTER | 4
Larry Combest Endowed Chair in Agricultur al Competitiveness
from his employees and family for many years.
While Heffington can rely on good help
through what looks to be a tough year, he is worried
about his limited water and dryland crops. Although
the majority of Heffington’s fields are irrigated, he
said the irrigation is set up to supplement rainfall, as
most of the High Plains irrigation is set up to do. His
wells are continuing to pump an adequate supply of
water for now, but he needs to continue to be cautious
with his water output to ensure that enough
water will be available in the future, and to do that
Heffington needs timely and adequate rains.
“The weather and policy you cannot control,”
Heffington said, “which creates lots of challenges for
farmers. We may have better seed varieties and technologies
for using water, but no matter what, we still
need the rain.”
Along with rain, Heffington said farmers also
need good policy.
“Farm policy is geared to small farmers,” Heffington
said. “We aren’t small farmers anymore. We are
big businesses, real businesses, and we are a very few
feeding and clothing a lot of people.”
Heffington said in order to continue supplying
food and fiber for the world, policy must be written
that provides valuable safety nets for farmers and is
focused on keeping U.S. commodities competitive in
the international marketplace.
“We are coming off a good year,” Heffington
said. “We made a good crop, received some good
prices, and saw our local economies benefit from all
of that. The thing we must remember is that at the
end of the day it all comes down to the number one
economic rule: supply and demand. If textile mills
need the cotton, then we will see a demand and
good prices. I just hope we have the cotton to supply
them with.”

Comments from the Chair
Mr. Heffington is the prototype for the next
generation farmer. Tech savvy and farming
oriented can be used to describe him. But,
perhaps a better description is a “complete
package.” Brad knows how to grow a crop for
sure, but he is also a great marketer and a great
advocate for agriculture. It is his marketing,
though, that should be a good example for
remaining competitive. As everyone knows,
cotton markets have experienced big increases in
market volatility in recent years. To protect
yourself from downturns and take advantage of
good prices takes time, effort, and knowledge.
One certainly does not have to be an ‘expert’ in
cotton prices...I am not sure any of us are
‘experts’...but careful attention to potential
opportunities and seeking out information about
how those options work (or do not work) for your
operation are critical to long-term success.
Brad has definitely exemplified the meaning
of “marketing.” His academic training helped, of
course. But it has been his “can do” attitude that
has led him to seek out the additional training
and spend the time learning the markets and risk
management options that are available to him.
Of course, there are varying degrees of
sophistication, and more sophisticated marketing
strategies take
more time to
execute. All
producers are not
suited to these
approaches, which
is certainly fine.
But, with the extra
time and energy
comes extra
earnings. So, the less
Dr. Darren Hudson, Chair
time you spend, the less you will make, generally.
Brad, of course, is first concerned about making
a crop. But, his success does not stop with yield.
Marketing is his passion and is also a key factor
in his competitiveness.
Larry Combest Endowed Chair in Agricultur al Competitiveness
ACC NEWSLETTER | 5