Cotton Farming

Did you know what a cotton bloom looks like? I didn't.

Photo from Mizzou Magazine 

It's kind of a pretty thing. Just don't look at the fields after a harvest, because they look pretty barren. I got my quarterly alumni magazine from my alma mater yesterday, the University of Missouri, and found a really interesting article on cotton farming. Seriously. It's interesting.

This issue focuses on sustainability and in case you didn't know, Missouri has a large agricultural school and research facility. (There is a lot of farm land there in the mid-West.) This article features a fourth-generation cotton farmer from southeast Missouri (the "bootheel"), which unknown to me, is the 9th largest producer of cotton in the nation, yet cotton is being produced in only seven counties.

Some facts that caught my attention:

• From 1987 to 2007, the energy used to produce a pound of cotton lint decreased 66 percent. (Per the Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture)
• This particular farmer has seen yields nearly double since 1980. He credits this to better engineered seeds which has greatly raised the cost of seeds, but is more than offset by the reduction in the use of pesticides.

Cotton crops have historically been criticized because they have been a huge consumer of pesticides versus other crops. The interest in organic cotton, certainly in the quilt fabric industry, has really increased in the last five years. But a big problem with organic cottons at the moment is price. And the reality is, most consumers still pick products based on price versus sustainability.

I found it interesting that a traditional cotton farmer is working toward the same goal as the organic farmers- reduced (or no) use of chemicals, high yields per acres, and reduced energy and labor to bring the fiber to market. Once the economic and methodological disparities between the two are minimized, it makes it very easy for organic cotton to become the norm instead of the expensive exception. You're welcome, Mother Earth.

I told you it was interesting and now you have a topic for your upcoming holiday parties.

 

 

 

Comments

[Kim]

The big kick I'm on now is trying to buy US cotton woven in US mills. I do so like all the different fabrics that so many fabric designers are creating these days, but they tend to be shipped into the US from somewhere else. So I use those sparingly and use the US stuff generously.

[j. caroline]

Kim,
I bet that isn't easy, because I think most cotton gets exported and milled overseas. I think you are more likely to find fabric being printed (converted) in the US that has been milled elsewhere. But I find it difficult to get any of that information- most manufacturers just tell you where it is printed.

[Martiel Beatty]

Thanks for sharing this information. I have a client who buys from me on a regular basis and always requests cotton. I try to use what I can from reclaimed sources such as former sweaters and the like but otherwise I always try to go organic. However, I then run into the same issue you expressed above of only getting the print location. Cotton isn't heavily requested, but for my vegan clients, it's almost absolute - do you have ideas/suggestions for reputable yarn sources in the US?

[Allkind Joinery]

Great information. I actually don't know about how cotton flower blooms but recently I visited in my grandma's town, I saw then a Cotton tress but I actually don't saw the cotton flower. By the way thanks for sharing the facts about cottons, now I know about it.

Thanks!

[Frannyo]

You're in Houston, right? My company is surrounded by large cotton fields in East Bernard, just south of Richmond/Rosenberg/Sugarland. I like to hang out at the local Czech bbq place and chit-chat with the farmers. Some of them said that they too, would like to go organic and sell locally, but cotton is VERY pesticide intensive and our friend Monstanto has a lock on the seeds. They're kind-of trapped by the system, just like consumers.