Overview

Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS.

Cotton is the single most important textile fiber in the world, accounting for about 40 percent of all fibers produced. The United States remains a major producer of cotton for the international market, ranking third behind China and India. The United States also remains the leading cotton exporter in the world. Six countries--Brazil, China, India, Pakistan, Turkey and the United States--consume about 80 percent of the world’s cotton (ERS).  September 2009 ... Cotton


Marketing

• About Cotton USA, Cotton Council International - This organization is the export promotions program of Cotton Council International, the overseas market promotion arm of the National Cotton Council of America. COTTON USA promotes U.S. cotton fiber and manufactured cotton products in markets around the world.
• Cotton, Agricultural Baseline Projections, Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA, 2009 - The Baseline Briefing Room provides long-run (10-year) baseline projections for the agricultural sector. Projections cover agricultural commodities, agricultural trade and aggregate indicators of the sector, such as farm income and food prices.
  
• Cotton, International Cotton Advisory Committee and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
• Cotton, U.S. Baseline Briefing Book, Food and Ag Policy Research Institute (FAPRI), University of Missouri, 2009.
• Cotton and Wool Outlook, ERS, USDA, 2009.
• Cotton and Wool Yearbook: Report, ERS, USDA, 2008.
• Cotton Backgrounder, ERS, USDA, 2007.
• Cotton Council International (CCI) - The CCI is the export promotion arm of the National Cotton Council of America. Its mission is to increase exports of U.S. cotton, cottonseed and U.S. manufactured cotton products, from the initial mill buyer of cotton fiber or purchaser of U.S. cotton yarns and fabrics on through to the final consumer.
• Cotton Farming - This journal contains all aspects of cotton farming in the United States. The site links to different organizations in the United States. It has several articles on the practical aspects of the cotton crop.
• The Cotton Foundation - The Cotton Foundation strengthens and expands markets for U.S. cotton.
• Cotton Incorporated - This multinational company builds the market for cotton through research and promotion. The site has information on marketing, processing, research and extension on cotton in the United States and throughout the world.
• Cotton Marketing Weekly, Bayer Crop Science United States.
• Cotton Outlook (International), Cotlook Daily Internet Service, Cotlook Limited, UK.  
• The Cotton Problem, World Bank, 2005 - This paper examines the trade policies and the market setting of the global cotton market.
• Cotton Production and Support in the United States, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, 2004 - This report provides U.S. policy makers with a complete overview of U.S. cotton production and the federal cotton subsidy programs that support that production.
• Cotton: World Markets and Trade, Foreign Ag Service (FAS), USDA, 2009.
• Crop Production Annual Summary, National Ag Statistics Service (NASS), USDA, 2009.
• Crop Values Annual Summary, NASS, USDA, 2009.
• Fiber Use for Textiles and China's Cotton Textile Exports, Cotton and Wool Outlook, ERS, USDA, 2009.
• Info Comm market Information, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Report - This organization deals with trade, investment and development issues. The site has information on crop characters, market scenarios and economic policies related to United States and the world over.
• International Cotton Advisory Committee
• International Cotton Marketing, Inc. - This company provides wholesale cotton brokering and distribution services, purchasing raw cotton fibers from Texas farmers and exporting its products to international locations.
• Journal of Cotton Science
• Market News Reports - Cotton Reports, Ag Marketing Service (AMS), USDA.
• Mexico Fields U.S. Cotton Exports, FAS, USDA - This gives brief information on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), its provisions and how it has affected the U.S. cotton trade.
• National Cotton Council of America
• National Cottonseed Products Association - Trade association for the cottonseed processing industry. Products include cottonseed vegetable oil for cooking; cottonseed meal, a high protein supplement for livestock and poultry; hulls, a roughage for cattle feed; and linters, a cellulose feed stock for many industrial and consumer products.
  
• U.S. Cotton, LLC - U.S. Cotton’s mission is to work toward manufacturing and marketing high-quality products that the company produces in different fields.

Processing/Manufacturing

• Cotton co-ops benefit from cottonseed oil comeback, Rural Cooperatives, USDA Rural Development, March/April 2009 - The cotton industry, best known for its role in textile production, suddenly had a renewed interest in an old product: cottonseed oil.
• Cottonseed Feed Products for Beef Cattle, Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, 2002 - This publication contains information related to the nutrient composition and feeding management of whole cottonseed, cottonseed meal and hulls.
• Economic Analysis and Feasibility of Cottonseed Oil as a Biodiesel Feedstock, Texas Tech University - This study investigated the costs of manufacturing cottonseed-oil-based biodiesel and tested the performance characteristics for two cottonseed oil types.
• Exploring Cotton’s Mysteries, Resources Magazine, New Mexico State University, 2003.
• The Trans Free Effect, QSR magazine, 2007 - Compares cottonseed oil to other plant oils.
• When a Co-op Dies, Rural Cooperatives magazine, Rural Development, USDA, 2007 - A long-time gin, a casualty of California’s shrinking cotton industry, closes its doors.

Production

• Above the Belt, Rural Cooperatives magazine, Rural Development, USDA, 2007 - Kansas farmers revive cotton production.
• All Cotton, Harvested Acres: 2007, 2007 Census of Agriculture, USDA, 2009.
• Cotton Growth and Development, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, 2007 - Understanding the growth and development of the cotton plant helps producers grow a high-yielding, high-quality crop.
  
• Cotton Production Information, Louisiana State University Ag Center.
• Cotton Production Information, University of California.
• Cotton Program, Texas A&M University.
• Cotton Research, Delta Research and Extension Center, Mississippi State University - Conducts research and Extension activities to solve crop concerns and transfer new information and technology to area producers.
• Drought Strategies for Cotton, New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service, 2003 - Timely, supplemental irrigation can bring in 200 to 400 pounds more lint per acre in cotton.
• Pest Management Guidelines – Cotton, University of California.
• The Sustainable Cotton Site

Case Studies/Businesses

• Cotton, The New American Farmer, Sustainable Agriculture and Research Education (SARE), USDA - Describes three operations located throughout the United States. The operation in New Mexico raises pima cotton and the operation in Texas raises organic cotton.
• Organic Essentials, O’Donnell, Texas - This company was founded in 1996 as a farmer-owned company to take organic fiber from the farm to the store shelf. It manufactures nonwoven cotton products such as cotton balls and cotton swabs that carry the Organic Essential brand.

Links checked September 2009.