Page 7 - VT Vibe Newsletter March 2021 FINAL

Five Questions with Mark Nixon

What is your role What career accomplishment are
with Viterra and you most proud of?
how long have My biggest accomplishment was making
you been part of the move from our Melbourne office to New
the team? York and eventually having the opportunity
I am the Cotton to lead the US cotton business.
Manager for
the US and What do you like best about working
have been with at Viterra?
company for Our global presence and a diverse range
almost 10 years. of colleagues to work with gives a great
perspective. It is part of the culture that
What are some of your responsibilities? makes Viterra a global leader in the
I manage the origination and movement agriculture and logistics space.
of raw cotton bales from the mid-south,
southwest and southeast regions of the
US to end use customers in Asia, Latin What do you like to do in your spare time?
America and domestically in the US. I enjoy socializing with friends and getting
out of New York for all things outdoors. US National Ag Day is on March
23, and is about recognizing and
celebrating the contribution of
agriculture in our everyday lives.
The National Ag Day program
DID YOU KNOW? encourages people to:
• Understand how food and
fiber products are produced.
• Cotton has been cultivated and used to make fabrics for at least
7,000 years, and may have existed in Egypt as early as 12,000 B.C. • Value the essential role of
• Worldwide, China and India are the largest producers of cotton, agriculture in maintaining a
strong economy.
while the U.S. remains the world’s largest exporter of cotton.
• The Cotton Belt, a chain of the 17 US states that grow cotton, spans • Appreciate the role
agriculture plays in
the southern half of the United States, stretching from Virginia to providing safe, abundant and
California. affordable products.
• Cotton is a sustainable fiber. The seeds are planted in the spring
and harvested in the fall. It takes about five to six months for the
plant to mature and the bolls to open for harvesting.
• All of the cotton plant is used, and there is no waste. The fiber is HAS ONE OF YOUR
the primary reason for growing cotton. But the seeds are used for FELLOW EMPLOYEES
animal feed and human use (cottonseed oil). The plant stalks are ACCOMPLISHED
tilled back in the soil after harvesting.
• One bale of cotton weighs about 480 pounds. SOMETHING
• 150 yards of cotton are contained in every baseball. SIGNIFICANT AT YOUR
• U.S. paper money is not actually made of paper at all; it’s actually a WORKPLACE OR IN
blend of 75% cotton and 25% linen. YOUR COMMUNITY?

Source: Cotton Inc. and Barnhardt Cotton Contact
viterra.communications@viterra.com
to share your story
and we’ll include it in an
upcoming edition.

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