Sustainable cotton farming trends: Leveraging natural resource survey insights for U.S. cotton production

Bayramova, J., Pires, S., Barnes, E., Morgan, G., Kurtz, R., and Daystar, J. (2024). "Sustainable cotton farming trends: Leveraging natural resource survey insights for U.S. cotton production," BioResources, 19(4), 7279–7319.

Abstract

Cotton cultivation in the United States is relevant globally, with the nation ranking among the top producers and exporters. This study examines conservation practice adoption trends and technological advancements in U.S. cotton production, focusing on sustainability and productivity. Efforts to improve cotton farming practices have reduced its environmental impacts, including decreased soil loss, water usage, and greenhouse gas emissions. Precision agriculture technologies have been instrumental in enhancing efficiency and reducing input costs, albeit with varying degrees of success. To gain deeper insights into cotton grower challenges and needs, a Natural Resource Survey was conducted in 2023 with 753 respondents. As a follow-up to the 2008 and 2015 surveys, the insights from this survey provide valuable data on grower practices and priorities, highlighting the increasing influence of climate change on cotton production. The findings underscore the importance of conservation agriculture and ongoing research to address grower concerns while improving production efficiency. Particularly noteworthy are the outcomes indicating an increase in cover crop adoption and a decrease in tillage practices, reflecting the industry’s commitment to sustainability. This study contributes to understanding the dynamics shaping the U.S. cotton industry and offers insights into the challenges and opportunities for continual improvement in U.S. cotton cultivation.

Download PDF

Full Article

Sustainable Cotton Farming Trends: Leveraging Natural Resource Survey Insights for U.S. Cotton Production

Jeyran Bayramova,^a Steven Pires,^a,bEd Barnes,^a Gaylon Morgan,^a Ryan Kurtz,^a and Jesse Daystar ^a

DOI: 10.15376/biores.19.4.7279-7319

Keywords: Cotton; Survey; Sustainable agriculture; Precision technologies; Cover crops; Pest management and pesticides; Water use; Conservation practices; Biodiversity

Contact information: a: Cotton Incorporated, 6399 Weston Pkwy, Cary, NC 27513; b: North Carolina State University, Department of Forest Biomaterials, 2820 Faucette Dr., Raleigh, NC 27607, USA; *Corresponding author: JDaystar@cottoninc.com

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

Sustainability Trends in Cotton Production

Cotton represents a significant global commodity, characterized by active trade in both its raw and processed forms. The United States is the third among global cotton producers and holds a dominant role in international exports, supplying over 35% of the world’s raw cotton (Cotton Sector at a Glance 2022). Cotton cultivation in the U.S. is centered in the 17 southern-tiered states known as the “Cotton Belt,” with Texas leading as the largest producer, accounting for approximately 40% of the nation’s cotton output in recent years. Cotton is predominantly cultivated for its lint, which serves as fiber, while its seeds are a valuable byproduct utilized in various ways, including cottonseed oil and animal feed. Notably, the inclusion of whole cottonseed in the diet of lactating dairy cows has been shown to consistently reduce methane (CH₄) emissions, which are among the most potent greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change (Grainger et al. 2010). Other parts of cotton plants, such as cotton stalks, have potential uses as renewable sources of cellulose (Prakash et al. 2024).

Among fiber types, cotton is perceived by consumers (LifestyleMonitor, 2023) as more environmentally friendly; however, all fiber production has an environmental impact. Continuous improvement is a key tenant of U.S. cotton production. Over the past four decades, U.S. cotton growers have decreased soil loss by 45%, improved irrigation water use efficiency by 58%, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 25%, all while improving land use efficiency by 30% (Field to Market 2021). These achievements are primarily the result of improvements in irrigation management and precision technologies, cotton variety development, and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies. Notably, the U.S. has seen a reduction of over 50% in insecticide applications in the past 30 years (Mississippi State University 2022), thanks to boll weevil eradication efforts, biotechnology, new cotton varieties, and IPM.

Recognizing the advantages of digitalization in U.S. agriculture, current initiatives are directed towards enhancing farming efficiency, decreasing inputs, boosting yields, and ultimately sustaining the livelihoods of cotton farmers while also addressing environmental concerns. Precision technologies are increasingly spotlighted, with Autosteer/GPS applications integrated into the management of 40% of all U.S. farm and ranchland acreage for on-farm production by 2019, and adoption rates nearing 65% for cotton-planted acreage (McFadden et al. 2023). These technologies have resulted in a reduction of both overall inputs and costs for fertilizers, pesticides, and fuels among adopters, although the extent of reductions has been modest and varies depending on the type of technology utilized.

Through the adoption of sustainable agriculture practices, such as cover crops and no-till, cotton growers help to restore soil health, mitigate climate change, and continually improve the industry. Thus, for the last decade, planted cover crop acreage increased by nearly 50%, while cotton farmers using reduced/no-till practices reached 45% (Wallander et al. 2021; ICAC 2022). Including cotton yields, the adoption of regenerative practices by U.S. farmers has resulted in an annual increase of over 8.8 million tons of carbon stored in cultivated cropland soils (USDA 2022). Informed consumers and industry stakeholders can contribute by opting for sustainable apparel choices and supporting initiatives like the Regenerative Cotton Fund and Climate Smart Cotton Program, both of which prioritize soil health, continual improvement, and the adoption of other conservation practices.

Understanding the economic, social, and sustainability aspects of cotton production is essential in addressing its profitability and environmental concerns. Developed by Cotton Incorporated, the global cotton life cycle assessment (LCA), first introduced in 2010 and last updated in 2016, provides comprehensive data on cotton fiber production, textile manufacturing, and consumer use impacts. A key discovery from this LCA revealed that textile manufacturing and consumer usage were dominant categories across the entire cotton supply chain due to their substantial energy consumption—such as fiber processing during manufacturing and laundering in consumer use. Although the agricultural phase generally exhibited lower impacts in most categories, blue water consumption was highest for cotton cultivation (Cotton Incorporated 2016).

Considering agriculture’s unique opportunity to mitigate climate change impacts, more research is needed to better understand how the adoption of conservation practices and precision agriculture technologies is enhancing crop productivity and increasing the resiliency of agricultural landscapes globally. In general, conservation practices, such as cover cropping and reduced/no tillage, can lower the environmental impacts of cotton production and improve soil health (Soil Health Institute 2023). There remains a limited understanding of how beneficial these practices are across regions with different topography, climatic conditions, and water availability. The latter, water availability, has posed challenges to all agricultural sectors, including cotton production, potentially affecting yields due to changes in precipitation patterns, increased weather extremes, and shifts in pest pressure. As examples, Hurricane Harvey resulted in a $100 million loss to Texas cotton in 2017 (Fannin 2017), while drought conditions caused a record 46% crop loss in the U.S. when considering all-cotton production in 2022 (Meyer et al. 2023). To address water supply challenges, further research is needed to understand and cope with excessive and limited water for cultivating cotton into the future. This includes exploring adaptations such as stress-resistant crop varieties, sustainable agricultural practices such as cover crop and no-tillage, modifying IPM and nutrient management recommendations, improving irrigation methods, etc. Climate change may also lead to water scarcity in some regions, forcing a shift in acreage to non-irrigated production due to limited water availability and declining profitability. However, amidst these challenges, there are also emerging opportunities. For instance, rising temperatures have enabled regions such as Kansas to expand cotton cultivation notably compared to a decade prior, with statewide cotton acreage witnessing a twelvefold increase between 2015 and 2020 (Kansas AGGROWTH 2021, 2019).

Along with climate change and extreme weather events, biodiversity loss is another challenge and was highlighted as a top three risks in the World Economic Forum’s 2022 Global Risks Report (Foro Económico Mundial et al. 2022). Cotton growers recognize the importance of biodiversity, which is why the lands becoming unsuitable for cotton cultivation are often repurposed into habitats for various wildlife species, including birds like quail, as well as pollinators (CottonToday). These initiatives not only contribute to wildlife conservation but also enhance the efficiency of neighboring cotton fields. However, there is still a deficiency in understanding the factors correlated between cotton cultivation and preserving biodiversity.

Access to updated agricultural data and insights into grower concerns and their research needs are critical for guiding research and development efforts aimed at supporting grower profitability while mitigating environmental footprints. In this context, insights from the Natural Resource Survey results hold particular significance.

Natural Resource Survey

In the summer of 2023, Cotton Incorporated launched a Natural Resource Survey (NRS) targeting U.S. cotton producers, seeking to evaluate the environmental footprint of cotton, contribute to the U.S. LCA project, and gain a better understanding of grower practices and challenges. These survey results were collected digitally, and invitations were sent to growers via emails and postcards. A third-party market research company assisted in the digital survey administration. A copy of the survey questionnaire is provided in Appendix 1. The survey data produced aimed to:

Assess changes in grower practices and priorities between 2008 and 2023.
Identify grower challenges.
Provide U.S. cotton production data for the U.S. life cycle assessment.
Gather growers’ insights regarding practices and agricultural technologies that positively impact resource efficiency and productivity.
Maintain an accurate understanding of growers’ research needs.

EXPERIMENTAL

The Natural Resource Survey covered a wide range of topics with 62 core questions, including demographics, grower practices and concerns, and field-level data in the 2021 or 2022 crop years. Similar surveys were conducted in 2008 and 2015, enabling comparisons where production data in those surveys also were representative of conditions from the previous crop year. However, questions related to grower attitudes are reflective of the year the survey was conducted. For simplicity, in presenting the results, the year the survey was conducted, namely 2023, is used in this report. Consistent with prior methodologies, the 2023 survey reached growers across 17 cotton-growing states. The results were summarized by assigning data from all these states to four regions – Far West (CA, AZ, NM), Southwest (TX, OK, KS), Midsouth (MO, AR, LA, MS, TN), and Southeast (AL, FL, GA, SC, NC, VA) to provide a representative response about each area’s production as illustrated in Fig. 1. The data have been analyzed using different tools, including Microsoft Excel and Power BI.

Fig. 1. Cotton growing states in four regions

The survey focused on filling the knowledge gap about how farming practices are connected and their broader impacts at a national level across all U.S. cotton-growing regions. Additionally, the survey aimed to offer direction for future research efforts. The examination of independent variables, such as cultivation methods and technology adoption, facilitated the establishment of correlations with dependent variables including field productivity (yield), resource efficiency (nitrogen and water use), and grower concerns (Fig. 2). However, it is important to approach these connections with caution, since each grower faces unique variables and circumstances that can influence how their fields perform. It should be noted that the growers in each survey are not the same producers, and such trends between years may not reflect changes in reality. Rather, it may be a different sample group. However, the results do provide some insights into shifts in the industry that are useful to the goals of this study.

Fig. 2. Cotton growing production-system simplified model with independent variables labeled in green (more grower control) and blue (less grower control) and the corresponding dependent variables represented in the yellow labels.

Survey Method

The survey was conducted during May, June, and July of 2023. Cotton Incorporated facilitated outreach by sending eleven thousand postcards to farmers who had produced cotton in 2021. These postcards were dispatched three times between the end of May and the end of July 2023. Additionally, a total of 4,300 emails were sent to request survey participation during this period. The survey encompassed all U.S. cotton-growing regions, yielding 753 responses, as illustrated in Fig. 3. Texas provided the most responses, at 37% of the total, followed by Georgia, the second-largest cotton-producing state, at 13%. In general, the percentage of responses per state corresponded to state-level cotton production volumes.

Fig. 3. Cumulative number of responses by date and state

Fig. 4. Percent of respondents by region in the 2015 and 2023 surveys

For comparison, in the previous 2015 survey data, there were a total of 925 respondents, with the majority of responses originating from the Southeast region (45%). The Southwest region then accounted for 30% of responses, while in 2023, it constituted the majority with 43% of responses. Conversely, the Far West region witnessed a slight decrease from 4% in 2015 to 3% in 2023. In general, cotton output in the Far West has been consistently decreasing due to declining water resources and competition from higher value crops, such as almonds and processing tomatoes in California (Geisseler and Horwath 2016). The percentage of responses by regions through 2015 and 2023 is shown in Fig. 4.

Key factors, such as weather conditions and production costs, can significantly influence cotton farming trends and may contribute to the observed differences in eligibility and interest in participating in the survey. According to USDA-NASS data, in 2022, 16% of planted acres in the Far West went unharvested due to water shortages, while the Southwest experienced a severe drought resulting in the loss of 52% of planted acres (Fig. 5). Additionally, cotton acreage remained at a record low from 2021 to 2023 due to a prolonged drought reducing water allocations in the region (USDA Quick Stats 2024). Consequently, it’s important to note that data from the Far West may not accurately reflect typical production conditions, given the prevailing challenges posed by the long-term drought. Although irrigation scheduling technologies have contributed to improved water productivity in cotton farming, their adoption by farmers remains limited, indicating significant room for improvement (Barnes et al. 2020). Matching irrigation schedules with the crop’s water use is important, especially during the flowering stage when cotton is most sensitive to water shortages. Optimizing the timing of irrigation termination (IT) for each geographical area is also essential, as early IT can save water but may not maximize yields, while late IT can lead to increased pest damage and reduced yield quality (Koudahe et al., 2021). Continued advancements in sensor and water delivery technologies, enhanced crop simulation models, and the development of drought-tolerant cotton varieties are just a few examples of strategies to address challenges posed by reduced water allocations and droughts (Barnes et al. 2020). Additionally, as irrigation water supplies become depleted, it will be important to consider rotation with high residue crops or cover crops to increase infiltration and soil water holding capacity when possible.