fiber

The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences plant breeders almost $1 million in grants this fiscal year to produce improved cotton and peanut varieties. Searching for softer cotton Regents’ Professor Andrew Paterson, director of the Plant Genome Mapping Laboratory and member of the CAES Department of ... Read More »

As a farmer, what’s most important to you? Sure, you want to make money and, sure, you want to provide for your family. You understand that. But what are you doing to understand your customers? You may say it doesn’t matter. I can always ship into the loan, and my co-op will handle it. My local pool worries about customers. Do you care about the market? What makes up your market? Your merchant or co-op help to make up your market, certainly. But what about their customers, the textile mills? What affects their market and how does that market matter to you? You may say, I’m a farmer, not a textile mill. But a textile mill will say, he is your customer: You will pay attention or he’ll buy from someone else. There’s a lot of cotton out there. Why? Because the mills have to pay attention to their customers. Read More »

For many people, the term “globalization” only has significance as a label for business development over the past 25 years or so. In fact, globalization is nothing new and is typified by the cotton business. The rise of textiles, as the first rung of industrialization, the rise of textiles, particularly in 19th century Europe, would not have been possible without the globalized production of cotton in Africa, Asia, the Americas and elsewhere. Cotton, so it seems, was an essential, if unassuming, raw material of not only textiles but world development as well. “Today, cotton is so ubiquitous that it is hard to see it for what it is: one of mankind’s great achievements,” so declares Sven Beckert, a historian at Harvard University and winner of the prestigious Bancroft Prize, in his newly published Empire of Cotton: A Global History. Even so, as Beckert elaborates, “cotton is as familiar as it is unknown," a prescient observation when we consider the current state of the cotton industry.If you’ve ever wondered why the cotton business behaves as it does, I recommend reading this insightful history. Deeply researched, highly analytical and well written, Beckert successfully relates the importance of cotton to the evolution of global capitalism. Read More »

There's been a lot of negative talk lately about cotton: how it's lost its mojo and fallen out favor with consumers. In today’s market, cotton is challenged in significant ways as it has to compete with an oversupply of synthetic fibers, a fast evolving textile supply chain, and changing consumer attitudes toward natural fibers. Of course, cotton always has to contend with weather, insects, weeds, and other growing problems; farmers year in and year out face such production challenges. Even so, there's always the demand of the market that ultimately tells the story of the success or failure of a product. Over the past few years, it seems as though the textile supply chain and consumers prefer synthetics. Cotton has lost market share. I've written several critical commentaries about the cotton business in various publications over the past few months. Much of my concern has centered on the lack of focus on the part of the industry to address inroads made by synthetics. Further, there’s confusion in the market over cotton's message. The frankly fallacious campaign conducted by proponents of "green" production (at the expense of traditional growing practices) has only helped to undermine the benefits of cotton. Read More »

By Richard Shaw Manager, Research Logistics/Operations AgriThority Responding To Consumers Today, brands and retailers want sustainable products to meet anticipated consumer preference. A major driver has long been their own personal and corporate dedication to be “greener,” because it is the responsible thing to do. Farmers in the United States have adopted more sustainable production practices because it is the ... Read More »

MR. SURESH KOTAK CHAIRMAN, KOTAK COMMODITIES MUMBAI, INDIA   It’s All About Quality It is said that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. This common phrase could also apply to What Customers Want: straight line availability of cotton with the right attributes for the products they are producing. This, in turn, makes it easier to deliver ... Read More »