Cotton farmer wins national honor

A local Farmer, Bruce Heiden, has won the 2006 Harry S. Baker Distinguished Service Award for Cotton.

The award, named after the late California industry leader, is presented to hard-working leaders in the cotton industry.

"I was pleasantly surprised when they called me to tell me I won," he said. "I'm not the first to get it, and certainly not the last, but it's a nice award to be recognized with."

Now, Heiden continues his family legacy by operating companies - H Four Farms and Heiden Land and Cattle Co. - based near Buckeye and Gild Bend.

Since we've just been covering agricultural price supports in Microeconomics, I thought it might be interesting to look up what Mr. Heiden's farm received.

Turns out H Four Farms III is number four on the top ten list of recepients in Maricopa County. They received $864,420 in 2005 and more than $8.8 million dollars between 1995 and 2005. On the state list they drop down to 8th.

He said his fondest memory involves his tenure as president of the National Cotton Council, when he drafted a 1990 farm law and expanded funding for the trade.