DTN Staff

With recognition to the Texas High Plains and the cotton industry there, DTN editors regret the passing of Duane Howell, a freelance cotton writer from Lubbock, Texas, who died May 27 at age 95.

Howell was a longtime cotton markets reporter and analyst for DTN, going back to the early 1980s. Howell often wrote opening and closing cotton comments and weekly columns on cotton markets for DTN until 2024.

That decades-long dedication to the Texas High Plains cotton producer was something DTN Editor-in-Chief Greg Horstmeier said set Howell apart. "I remember at one point he wanted to slow down and go from writing several times a week to a weekly roundup commentary," Horstmeier said. "He always said most cotton analysts were focused on long staple and Delta markets. The High Plains stripper cotton growers needed to hear from someone with their perspective, and he was always dedicated to providing that."

Howell's work for DTN reflected his career as a farm reporter for the Avalanche-Journal in Lubbock from 1957 until he retired from the newspaper in 1996. Earlier in his career, he also wrote for the Abilene Reporter-News.

At one time, Howell published a weekly cotton letter circulated throughout the U.S. and in 33 foreign countries. He traded cotton futures as a speculator and maintained a hedging account for dryland and irrigated farms in Lynn County.

Howell grew up on a dryland cotton and sorghum farm in Lynn County, south of Lubbock. He studied agriculture at Texas Tech University for three years but took a year off to farm his grandfather's place before returning to Tech and graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism in 1953. He was the sports editor of La Ventana, the Tech annual, in his senior year.

Duane and his first wife, "Gerry," were members of First Baptist Church in Lubbock, where Duane also served as president of the Downtown Bible Class. Geraldine (Gerry) Howell preceded him in death in 1980. His second wife, Nan Beth Howell, passed away in 2024. He was also preceded in death by his son, James Lonnie Howell, who died in 1997.

Duane is survived by two daughters, Cynthia Ann Rice and Lisa Beth Theriot, as well as six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

A memorial service was held on June 6 in Lubbock.

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