SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—During the biennial Sourcing USA Summit, global cotton-industry decision-makers, trade experts and government administrators convened at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess to discuss the current state and future of the industry.

There was a lot to discuss during the Nov. 12–15 summit, whose theme was “Innovation, Quality and Sustainability.”

With 175 mills represented from 26 countries, trade was a big topic of discussion. Gary Adams, president and chief executive officer of the Cordova, Tenn.–based National Cotton Council, is concerned about the trade tension between the U.S. government and China.

“This has already proved to be an impediment that we’re not able to get over. Scaling it up further might ratchet up the tension and affect other sectors,” he said. “We’re already seeing it in the cotton sector.”

Adams hopes that better communication between U.S. cotton producers and their international partners will help their relationships. Because the majority of U.S. cotton is exported, he also recognized the need for the cotton industry to generate a quality product.

“Roughly three out of every four bales of cotton go into the export market,” he said. “As an industry, we are trying to make improvements in the way we produce the cotton, gin the cotton and deliver the cotton in a timely manner.”

The green trend in growing cotton

With the push for ecologically sound materials, cotton has historically served as a better natural option than man-made options. Through its research, Cary, N.C.’s Cotton Inc. has found that the degradation properties of cotton support sustainable apparel-manufacturing initiatives.

“What we found is that cotton decays at very predictable rates of approximately 25 percent over 50 days,” said Berrye Worsham, president and chief executive officer of Cotton Inc. “We found on the synthetic side, it had a slight initial decay of 1 percent or 2 percent, and then it flatlined.”

Comparing these two materials, a sustainable apparel-manufacturing model would be more realistic using cotton products. With this in mind, Worsham sees demand for cotton increasing over the next 10 to 12 years.

“We’re projecting that the demand for cotton will rise between 1.5 percent to 2 percent in aggregate, and that is above the historical rate of cotton consumption, which is just over 1 percent or nearly 1.5 percent,” Worsham said. “The way that works in the marketplace is that it’s fine to have a potential demand, but we’ve worked hard to develop new fabrics and finishes.”

According to Worsham, his organization is developing solutions to meet the modern lifestyle demands that consumers are placing on textiles manufactured from cotton. Similar to the breakthrough with its Purepress resin finish, which is a formaldehyde-free solution for wrinkle-free fabrics, Cotton Inc. is investing in research to create a better crop for a more sustainable industry.

“The entire global cotton industry is really working to greatly improve sustainability, particularly in the United States and Australia, but even through the Better Cotton Initiative the developing world is improving,” Worsham explained, noting that in the next decade Brazil could become a major player in cotton production.

“Cotton is going to be viewed as a preferred fiber, and we will be able to provide that without environmental damage,” he said.

Adhering to new sustainable standards

With sustainability in mind, Ted Schneider, the president of Cotton Council International in Washington, D.C., announced there were methods for U.S. cotton by 2025 to reach sustainability goals through a new U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol.

These goals include a 13 percent increase in productivity, including reduced land use per pound of fiber; an 18 percent increase in irrigation efficiency; a 39 percent reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions; a 15 percent reduction in energy consumption; a 50 percent reduction in soil loss; and a 30 percent increase in soil carbon.

As the owner of a Louisiana farm specializing in cotton, corn, soybeans, rice, wheat and grain sorghum, Schneider recognizes the production challenges arising from keeping up with demand. As the industry provides greater transparency for its sustainable practices, textile mills, apparel manufacturers and retailers will hold cotton producers accountable.

Schneider noted that farmers have been working toward more efficient cultivation since before the buzz of sustainable-production hit. Seeing a need for a sustainable agency to meet the demands of consumers, Schneider joined his peers to create in 2017 the USA Sustainability Task Force, of which he is chairman.

“It was a response to feedback we were getting from textile mills, brands and retailers wanting us to come up with a certified, third-party production protocol,” he said. “It was important to them that they knew we were producing cotton responsibly and sustainably.”

Referring to cotton farmers in the United States as “active environmentalists,” Schneider is proud that his organization is open to collaborating with other groups, such as the Better Cotton Initiative. By working together, the organizations can ensure that more sustainable cotton cultivation takes place while addressing issues such as water quality and production efficiency.

“In the entire apparel industry, margins are tight from top to bottom,” Schneider said. “Farmers produce a bulk commodity, and we don’t have any control, day in and day out, over the price we get for the crop. The only thing we have control over is input, and sustainability efforts should help us in that area.”

Within the task force exists an organizational committee that includes brands, retailers and non-governmental organizations including the World Wildlife Fund.

“They [NGOs] like what we are doing. If we don’t have their support, we don’t have a program that will be supported by the industry,” Schneider said. “We’re making sure that they have input and if we’re going off in an area that will not work for them. It’s important for us to know that. They’re the ones driving this. We’re evolving our industry and trying to respond to the needs of our customers.”

This type of collaboration is necessary for the cotton industry to evolve with its apparel partners. Working within a global textile and apparel industry, cotton farmers within the United States are, according to Schneider, willing to work with an agency that is managed by their peers and understands their plight while also guiding them toward more ecologically beneficial practices.

“We have to realize that our role in our occupations isn’t just that we’re cotton farmers. We are in the supply chain of a much larger industry and our customers have other options,” Schneider said. “To be responsible members of the supply chain, we need to do what the other members of the supply chain are asking us to do. It’s the only way we can be profitable and thrive.”