US Cotton Industry Groups Team Up To Promote Sustainability Growth In The Mid-South

Industry news

US Cotton Industry Groups Team Up To Promote Sustainability Growth In The Mid-South

Truterra, LLC, the sustainability business at Land O'Lakes, Inc., has announced a new collaboration with Cotton Incorporated to advance the adoption of sustainable farming practices across 50,000 acres of cotton in the Mid-South sourcing region. The new initiative will tap the Truterra Stewardship platform and Truterra retailer member GreenPoint Ag to help connect consumer brands to verified sources of more sustainable cotton in their supply chains. As part of this effort, Truterra and GreenPoint Ag will also help participating growers enroll in the US Cotton Trust Protocol - a system which will set a new standard in more sustainably grown cotton, giving brands and retailers the critical assurances they need to source US cotton. Truterra and GreenPoint Ag will work with participating cotton growers to establish an environmental sustainability baseline for each field, identify year-over-year improvement opportunities and model the impact of various conservation practices on sustainability and profitability. These efforts will help participating growers measure and improve water quality, land use, soil conservation, soil carbon, irrigation water use efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity and energy use in their cotton fields. "A growing number of consumer brands are demanding more transparency about the practices used to grow products," said Jason Weller, Vice President, Truterra, LLC. "At Truterra, we are committed to working with growers across the country to unlock the enormous untapped value and potential in the market for sustainability. "This new collaboration expands our footprint into cotton, offering cotton growers a comprehensive view of all of the factors impacting the profitability, performance and sustainability of their farm business to enable them to not only meet consumer demand, but to make even smarter business decisions." Jesse Daystar, Chief Sustainability Officer, Cotton Incorporated, added, "We have set ambitious, science-based sustainability targets for US cotton production over the next decade, and our collaboration with Truterra and GreenPoint Ag will help us engage more growers in this important effort. New enrollment in the US Cotton Trust Protocol also will help meet the growing demand from consumer brands to source sustainably grown cotton for their products." "Through our long-standing partnership with Truterra, GreenPoint Ag works with farmers to safeguard natural resources for generations to come and to help them build resilient farm businesses," said Jeff Blair, CEO, GreenPoint Ag. "It is exciting to be able to offer the precision data and analysis provided by Truterra to our cotton growers for the first time and to position them as a dependable supply source for some of the country's largest buyers of cotton."