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Cotton Industry Collaborates to Receive USDA Grant for U.S. Cotton Smart Commodity Program

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USDA Partnership for Climate Smart Commodities

Cotton Incorporated is honored to collaborate with industry leaders to focus on increasing the adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices, as part of the USDA Partnership for Climate Smart Commodities pilot projects.

Climate Smart Cotton

The project will build markets for Climate Smart Cotton and provide technical and financial assistance to over 1,000 U.S. cotton farmers to advance the adoption of climate-smart practices on more than one million acres. This will allow the production of more than four million bales of Climate Smart Cotton over five years.

“The Climate Smart Cotton Program brings together USDA with private industry resources to increase the production and demand for Climate Smart Cotton that will help the U.S. cotton industry meet the ten-year sustainability goals,” notes Jesse Daystar, Ph.D., vice president and chief sustainability officer for Cotton Incorporated. “The U.S. Climate Smart Cotton Program presents a terrific opportunity to leverage Cotton Incorporated research and increase the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices that improve soil health as well as benefit farmers and the environment.”

A Sustainable Future with Cotton

The project is an initiative that also includes the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, the National Cotton Council’s export arm Cotton Council International, the Soil Health Institute, Soil and Water Outcomes Fund, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Agricenter International, Alabama A&M University, and North Carolina A&T State University.