About Us

FCC was organized in 1948.  It seems that the area cooperative gins had a very difficult time getting their cotton into area warehouses.  Otho Key told me some years ago that he was the manager of the Littlefield Cooperative Gin in 1947 and they could not get their cotton  receipted, and had to store the bales on the gin yard, and then deliver them late in the spring to some distant warehouse.  Costing about $20 per bale.  Apparently that was wide spread over the area.  A group of producers met at the PCOM office and organized Farmers Cooperative Compress.  They felt like the area needed a cooperative warehouse.  Producer controlled and governed.  FCC has been profitable every year since 1948.  They secured 120 acres, bought a used Webb 80 press in Mississippi, and contracted to build a warehouse.  The first office was an old house that was moved in. (My office is about where the front door was) They sold preferred stock to the members gins, and borrowed money from the Houston Bank for Cooperatives.  Mr. Tom Brown was hired as the manager. They received 78,164 bales the first year.  FCC bought more land, and more land and built warehouses as needed.  In 1965 they received 942,259 bales.  Mr. Brown was the general manager until 1973, and Rex McKinney was hired as General Manager.  Rex led the Cooperative until 1997. In the mid 70’s to mid 80’s most of the cooperative gins converted from the flat bale to the gin UD.  This changed FCC from a labor intensive compress-warehouse to a cotton distribution-warehouse.  Rex led this change, he was a great leader and innovator.  More warehouses were built.  In 1993 FCC handled 1,767,069.  At some point in all those years FCC became the largest cotton warehouse in the U.S., and the world.  Quite a success story.  It is a tribute to those forward thinking producers in 1948.  FCC has been blessed with outstanding Board leadership,  a strong producer base, outstanding gin base, great gin managers

Plainview Cooperative Compress was organized in 1953.  The cooperative gins in that area wanted a compress a little closer to their location.  PCC grew and was successful as well.  John McQuien was hired as the first manager, John served until 1985.  Bill Cagle was hired as manager and served until 1995.

In July of 1997, FCC & PCC merged.  Farmers Cooperative Compress was the name of the merged Cooperative.  Ron Harkey was hired as the President-CEO of the merged Cooperative.  My first day on the job was July 14, 1997. 

In 2005 FCC purchased the Stanton warehouse, and that same year FCC acquired the Levelland warehouse.  In 2008 FCC bought the Floydada location.  In 2005 & 2007 FCC received and shipped over 3 Million bales.  Additional warehouses were built in Lubbock, Plainview, Levelland and Stanton. 

Today FCC has 208 warehouses, a total of 11,351,980  sq.ft. of approved warehouse space, with a USDA licensed capacity of over 2.2 million bales.  Over 7000 members, with 52 gins delivering to our locations.  Since our humble beginning in 1948, FCC has received 66,082,652  bales, and has returned $863,370,990 to its members in dividends.  FCC has a reputation of giving great service to the cotton industry, and that has added value to our producer members.

Since day one the mission statement of FCC has been service.  That is what the members demanded from the start.  Our mission statement states   FCC will enhance member profitability by providing efficient reliable service to the cotton industry.  FCC has a rich history.  Board leadership has been outstanding.  Member loyalty is one of our strong points.  Great leadership from our gin managers.  FCC has been blessed  with outstanding employees, throughout our history.  For many this was their first and last job, working here their whole career. 

As we look back it has been a great story.  However, we feel our best days are ahead of us.