If you ever picked up a new pair of denim jeans made in the U.S., there is a good chance the fiber in those jeans came from Texas, where as much as 40 percent of U.S. cotton is produced. Demand for organic cotton fiber from consumers in the U.S. has increased dramatically, from personal care items to home furnishings and apparel, but despite this, organic cotton acreage declined in 2022 by roughly 25 percent. For the first time, new research seeks to solve how to drive sustainable growth and into the potential of carbon-sequestering microbes in organic cotton soils.

Organic cotton is a $2.3 billion industry with the U.S. Cotton Belt comprised of 17 states stretching east to west from Virginia to California. As a result, growing practices vary dramatically by region, limiting a one-size-fits-all approach to cotton production. Meanwhile, organic cotton growers face numerous challenges from fragile soils to finding non-chemical solutions to suppress difficult weeds to the uncertainty and risk in large-scale adoption of organic practices. To solve this dilemma, the research team will work with producers to study current practices and identify opportunities that enhance cotton production sustainably through organic regenerative farming practices. The goal is to share these successes with growers to increase existing yields and acreage of organic cotton.

The study, ‘Fostering Sustainable Organic Cotton Production in the U.S. Through Research and Outreach on Organic Regenerative Practices,’ expands on a smaller project in 2020 that laid the groundwork for the new large-scale initiative and is funded by a $3.5 million U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (award # OREI- 2023-51300-40849).

The robust project team behind the study includes key participants representing the U.S. organic cotton academic community from Texas A&M AgriLife, Texas Tech University, New Mexico State University, The Soil Health Institute, AgriCenter International, Sam Houston State University, Prairie View A&M University, and Texas A&M University-Kingsville. The team will include input from producer organizations, the textile industry, and outreach support from The Organic Center. 

Which barriers are limiting the expansion of organic cotton acreage in the U.S. during a time of growing demand from consumers?

According to USDA organic cotton data from 2023, the U.S. produced 42,883 bales of organic Upland and American Pima cotton in 2022. Persistent drought conditions, extended triple-digit temperatures, and challenging economic conditions most likely led to 11,248 fewer bales produced in 2022 than in 2021. Another 2,212 bales of the fiber were classified as in transition to organic certification.

What is the overall aim of the project?
The new project from Texas A&M AgriLife Research and other major players in the cotton community aims to identify opportunities that will confront the challenges U.S. organic cotton growers are experiencing and increase yields of organic cotton to meet growing domestic demand currently filled by exports from other countries. In areas already producing organic cotton, researchers will focus on soil heath and economics, and where opportunities exist to improve sustainability.
 
Main Project Objective  
What is it that the scientists hope to achieve? 

Researchers expect the study to help U.S. organic cotton producers determine how to improve yields, productivity, and sustainability in their existing fields and to transition more acreage into organic production through improved regenerative organic production practices. Researchers hope to reduce tillage intensity and improve weed control, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve soil health, increase organic cotton yields and minimize crop losses from climate variability, while generating new market opportunities for organic cotton.  

Project Approach 
How do scientists plan to go about achieving this goal? 
Field Experiments: Over a four-year period, small plot experiments will be conducted in organic fields in Texas, New Mexico and Tennessee to evaluate specific regenerative management practices that are transferrable to the organic community. Over the same period, 86 fields of dryland and irrigated cotton will be studied for pest incidence, soil health, rainfall, yields, and quality.   
 
Identifying resilient organic cotton varieties to insect pests and weeds in plot experiments will further sustainability goals. Practices such as weed control will also get a closer look. Currently, tillage is the major practice used to control weeds, but continuous tillage can be destructive to long-term soil health. Without the use of synthetic herbicides, incorporating methods that might lessen tillage needed for weed control, such as cover crops, living mulches, and flaming, will be examined. Soil samples to assay microbes and assess soil health indicators will capture changes in the soil microbial community from a shift to organic production practices. 
 
Modeling and socioeconomics: Scientists will also look at soil carbon dynamics and greenhouse gas emissions for the possibility of tapping into growing carbon markets to increase grower revenue. The net greenhouse gas benefits from organic regenerative practices will be modeled from field experiments and farming history. A partial budget analysis with grower input costs and sale prices will assess the economic feasibility of regenerative practices, while focus groups and surveys will help determine barriers to adoption of organic practices.  
 
Outreach: Developing programs backed by the support of organic cotton member- and non-profit organizations will further sustainability and leadership in key states for organic cotton production through on-farm demonstrations and farmer-to-farmer outreach, and potentially expand acreage in the Mississippi Delta and Gulf Coast. A strong stakeholder advisory panel has been formed to help guide the project activities and deliverables.  
 
Inclusion: Fifteen under-represented undergraduates will be chosen from Black, Hispanic-serving, and Tribal educational institutions for an eight-week paid training to learn about organic practices and research methods in cotton. 
 
Project Timeline and Next Steps

The multi-faceted project goals will commence in 2024 through 2027 and include: 

— Evaluating impact of current agronomic practices on cotton growth, pest incidence, soil fertility, yield and quality. Track outcomes of regenerative production practices on soil health, soil carbon, and greenhouse gas emissions. Conduct economic evaluations of various agronomic practices to determine practices that are profitable and sustainable. Attain a deeper understanding of adoption constraints and opportunities associated with organic cotton production. Year 1-4. 

— Developing locally suitable regenerative practices to advance agronomic, ecosystem and economic benefits of production by partnering with conventional, transitionary, and short-and long-term organic producers to evaluate baseline practices. Year 1-4. 

— Evaluating weed suppressive potential of advance-breeding or already-developed cotton lines for utilization in organic production. Year 1-4. 

— Expanding adoption of organic production practices through collaborative extension and demonstration activities. Year 3-4. 

— Providing educational opportunities to train the next generation of research and extension scientists and organic practitioners. Year 1-4. 

/sites/default/files/styles/featured_image/public/microsite/page/cotton_orei.jpg?itok=jfHJ98TU