U.S. cotton SUSTAINABILITY STORY STARTS AT THE SOIL

For U.S. cotton growers, their land is their livelihood. Growers work tirelessly to preserve their soil, not only for the survival of their crop but to safeguard the land for their children and generations to come.

Over the past 35 years these growers have done much to improve the health of the soil on their farms. Through the adoption of practices such as minimal tillage, and the growing of winter cover crops, U.S. cotton farms have improved soil health and increased soil carbon levels. They have also reduced soil loss by 37% per acre.

While plowing or tilling can be beneficial to crop growth, these methods lead to the release of CO2 that was trapped within the soil. Growers have made great strides to reduce CO2 emissions by adopting conservation tillage practices, which increases the amount of CO2 captured from the air into the soil by as much as 400 pounds of carbon per acre per year. This means the carbon emitted and the carbon stored are nearly equal.

Taking into account the carbon stored in cotton fiber, an acre of no-till cotton actually stores 350 pounds more of atmospheric carbon than was emitted during cotton production. Now, nearly one-third of U.S. cotton farms use no-till methods. Additionally, research has shown the uptake of improved conservation tillage practices has dramatically reduced soil erosion.