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 Keep Your Focus
There’s an old saying in baseball that goes, “When you step
into the batter’s box, have nothing on your mind except baseball.”
Well, the same thing goes for growing cotton.
Being a farmer on the High Plains of Texas, I can tell you how
much time and energy it takes (let alone money!) to grow cotton.
Worst of all, like a batter in baseball, you can’t always get a hit
when you need it most.
Take this year, for instance: Drought, volatile prices and global
recession. It’s bad enough for me to turn in my season tickets
to the Texas Rangers (well, almost).
Yet, despite all of the troubles this year, what gives me an
edge in today’s market is simple. I continue to grow what I know
year in and year out will be in demand by today’s textile mills,
namely the best quality cotton I can grow – good weather or
bad, high prices or low.
What Do Mills Want?
I know what textile mills (our customers), want. I’ve seen it.
Let me explain: I’ve been to events around the world sponsored
by Certified FiberMax, and the message I’ve heard from mills
time and again is that quality production makes the biggest difference
in their sourcing decisions. Overseas textile mills – the major customers for our cotton – use equipment that performs
better when spinning a longer, stronger cotton, which results in
better fabrics. Low quality cotton can gum up spinning equipment
– costing a mill time and resources. This gives mills an
advantage in the marketplace.
Main Objective – Quality
Now, for those of you who may think this is just an “infomercial”
for FiberMax, think again. The quality message applies to
all producers whether in Texas, Mississippi or Gujarat. It’s not
just a simple case of price anymore. There’s more to our business
these days. We need to grow what our customers want and
demand – and that’s quality cotton! |
