Cotton Grower

The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) has partnered with agriculture solutions company Avalo, whose platform accelerates the speed at which plants with key resiliency traits may be developed. Informed by nature and powered by AI, Avalo’s platform revolutionises plant breeding for climate-resilient crops, including cotton, by identifying key plant traits to develop seeds requiring less water and fertiliser.

Every production season offers a little different scenario than the one before. And on the topic of harvest preparation and timing, those little variables can cause great consternation for cotton producers. Just this year in the Mid-South, producers took advantage of an unusually warm and dry early spring window to plant – before a period of heavy rainfall set in. The net result is that a portion of the cotton planted in Mississippi in 2026 is several weeks behind the majority of the crop.

In late July, the Commodity Commission Ex-Officio Committee met to make appointments to the Georgia Cotton Commission Board of Directors. Morgan County cotton farmer John Ruark, Toombs County cotton farmer Chris Hopkins, and Bulloch County cotton farmer Greg Sikes were each reappointed to another three-year term on the Commission’s board of directors.

The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) increased Reference Prices and made other improvements in the ARC/PLC farm income safety net. The OBBB was enacted on July 4, 2025, and was retroactive for the 2025 crop year. Due to the late passage and signing and the changes in ARC/PLC made, the producer will receive the higher of ARC or PLC for the 2025 crop regardless of any earlier election decision made.

Stretching across the High Plains, from South Dakota down into the Texas High and Southern Plains, the Ogallala Aquifer is the lifeblood of many of the region’s farmers and ranchers. Cotton producers in the Southwest — those in Kansas, Oklahoma and the Texas Plains — rely on this water source, although the quality and quantity of the water available in this Southern Ogallala Aquifer Region can vary widely.

The Georgia Cotton Commission, Georgia Peanut Commission and the University of Georgia Extension Cotton and Peanut Teams will co-sponsor a joint research field day on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in Tifton, Georgia. The field day will start at 8:00 a.m. at the University of Georgia Lang Farm located at 230 Rigdon Aultman Road, Tifton, Georgia. After a brief welcome, field day attendees will visit the UGA Lang Farm to tour several trials and hear from speakers.

Deltapine is launching Committed to Cotton Communities, a new program designed to help strengthen rural communities by giving cotton growers the opportunity to nominate local nonprofit organizations for the chance to receive a charitable donation. The initiative reflects Deltapine’s long-standing commitment to the cotton industry and recognizes the important role growers play in supporting their local communities.

On August 13, 2026, Coimbatore, India-based Kumaraguru College of Technology [KCT], as part of the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists’ (AATCC) Student Chapter inauguration, organized a technical event to interact with students on the applications of cotton and nonwovens in technical textiles. I was delighted to address students and faculty via an online connection, although it was late at night for me in Lubbock, Texas, on August 12, 2026.

I’m old enough to remember the “Cotton is the Enemy” campaign from Under Armour. I suspect most of our cotton producer audience is, too. It’s hard to believe now, but “Cotton Is the Enemy” has actually been gone for longer than it existed. Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank founded the brand in 1996 and immediately implemented the marketing campaign, which he hoped would promote his synthetic line of athletic apparel.

USDA’s August monthly crop production and supply and demand estimates were mixed news and should likely have little impact on the market. But anyway, the focus seems increasingly to be on the weather and crop conditions. Prices (Dec futures) have been in a good uptrend over the past 3 weeks with only 1 little hint of a hiccup during that time. We’ve been at 80+ cents for most of the time dating back to early July There would seem to be little reason to stop the train.