The 1996 Farm Bill requires The Cotton Board to conduct an independent, third-party evaluation every five years of the effectiveness of the Cotton Research & Promotion Program (the Program). The most recently concluded evaluation reflected well on the Program’s effectiveness both over the long-term (1986-2019) and over the last five years (2015-2019).

In an April 1 letter sent to members of Congress across the Southeast, Joe Martin, president of Southern Cotton Growers, stressed relief for farmers is warranted this year due to skyrocketing production costs.

In the letter, Martin provided data from a study commissioned by Southern Cotton Growers and prepared by Don Shurley, professor emeritus of cotton economics at the University of Georgia, that documents the escalating production costs.

Scientists with the LSU AgCenter annually evaluate cotton varieties in official variety trials (OVTs) at several locations across the state. Cotton varieties are managed using practices that follow LSU AgCenter recommendations and demonstrate commercial operations as closely as possible.

It wasn’t that long ago that if you wanted to buy an article of clothing, you went into a brick-and-mortar store, examined the racks of dresses, shirts or slacks and looked to see if the products were made with U.S. cotton.

“That all changed with the Internet in the mid-90s,” said Ted Schneider, a Lake Providence, La., producer and chairman of the National Cotton Council. “Fifty percent of all apparel sales last year were done online.”