Innovation and Data Driving Sustainability in US Cotton Industry

Agriculture is often viewed as a trade based on intuition, with production
knowledge passed down from one generation to another. While those traditions
still exist, producers know that today’s issues — such as a changing climate and
limited natural resources — require more complex solutions, providing US
commodity producers the opportunity to lead the way when it comes to
technological innovation.

As pressures mount to make fashion more
sustainable,
brands and retailers — as well as policymakers and industry leaders — are
seeking assistance and reassurances that global supply
chains
are using verified data and technology to improve environmental footprint.

US-grown cotton is one of the most technologically advanced industries in the
world; and it has used the innovations at its disposal to become continuously
more sustainable. For more than 35 years, US cotton growers have made huge
strides to progress the sustainability of their farms. They have improved soil
health, reducing loss and erosion by 37 percent per acre all while increasing
soil carbon levels. Additionally, they have used 79 percent less
water
and 54 percent less energy, reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent and
land use by 49 percent — all while increasing yield by approximately 42 percent.

A new generation of ag tech

As technology has improved, growers continue to utilize emerging innovations to
grow cotton more efficiently. According to a study from Duke University and
Cotton Incorporated, 51 percent of US cotton growers use GPS-enabled swath
control to ensure they are not overlapping practices such as planting,
fertilizer applications and crop-protection applications. Nearly 7 in 10 growers
surveyed also use GPS auto-steering functions on their equipment, such as
tractors and pickers.

Precision
agriculture
has a major role in this new era of innovation around farming and sustainable
agriculture. These technologies gather farm-specific parameters including soil
conditions, nutrients and water availability. Many US cotton growers use
precision technology throughout the cotton season — with 63 percent reporting
that they use GPS receivers, multi-spectral images and ground-based sensors to
further improve their sustainability. Consulting real-time weather radar
improves efficiency by allowing growers to avoid activities that would be
affected by weather, such as the timing of applying nutrients and herbicides.
There is also the potential to reduce GHG emissions from optimized nutrient
management and water use efficiency.

Quantifiable, verifiable goals and measurement for key sustainability metrics of US cotton production

Growers need to be able to demonstrate their sustainable farming practices to
brands and retailers who are facing increased pressure from their customers and
policymakers to provide transparent sustainability
metrics.
This is where the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol comes
in: The Trust Protocol aims to be the catalyst to shift the market towards
continued sustainability progress. The program underpins and verifies the US
cotton industry’s sustainability progress through data collection and
independent third-party verification, and helps growers easily measure their
progress in six key sustainability metrics — land use, soil carbon, water
management, soil loss, greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficiency — thus,
enabling growers to make informed decisions from one year to the next.

There is no doubt that agriculture has come a long way in the last three
decades. The Trust Protocol aims to drive new possibilities through
collaboration and technological advancements to ensure that the US cotton
industry can lead the world in sustainable farming practices and its growers can
achieve their goal of a better harvest through data-informed decisions in the
field.