Cotton Marketer of the Year Award: Who Was Joe O’Neill?
August 14, 2024 
Joe O’Neill (Photo: MarketsWiki.tv)
The Joseph J. O’Neill Cotton Marketer of the Year Award has been awarded annually since 1991 to honor excellence in on-farm cotton marketing.
The award, now presented by BASF, honors the late Joseph J. (Joe) O’Neill, long-time President and CEO of the New York Cotton Exchange (now ICE Futures) and one of U.S. cotton’s greatest friends.
Ask people who knew him well, and they’ll often describe a force of nature for the cotton business.
O’Neill was a longtime New York exchange executive and innovator in the futures markets, beginning with the Cotton Exchange to the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) and finally with InterContinentalExchange (ICE) in 2007. He served as Senior Executive Vice President and Chairman of the ICE Cotton Committee until his retirement.
Through it all, O’Neill was always one of cotton’s greatest promoters, recalls long-time friend Dr. O.A. Cleveland.
“Joe worked with Extension agents in every cotton state,” he said. “He was tireless in his efforts. He wanted to make sure cotton growers around the United States had a strong grasp of using the futures market and using the cotton options market. Joe is the reason we’re here today.”
O’Neill passed away in 2018. The Cotton Marketer of the Year Award was named in his honor in 2019.
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