Cotton coming full circle means taking a whole-farm approach, according to the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol. And its mission is to bring quantifiable and verifiable goals and measurement to the key sustainability metrics of U.S. cotton production.
Established in October 2020, the Trust Protocol advances U.S. cotton production by offering measurable, verified data for brands, retailers, and its broader stakeholders. Garnering over 1000 members across the supply chain, the Trust Protocol is aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, recognized by Textile Exchange and Forum for the Future, and part of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Cotton 2025 Sustainable Cotton Challenge, Cotton 2040, and Cotton Up initiatives. It has also been recognized and published in the ITC Standards Map, recognized as a standard for sustainable cotton by the Partnership for Sustainable Textiles, and confirmed as an ISEAL Community Member.
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Here, the Trust Protocol discusses its differentiated approach to data, advocating an all-inclusive approach to cotton farming, and commitment to continuous improvement.
Fairchild Studio: How does the Trust Protocol differ from other systems in terms of sustainability metrics and other measures?
The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol is a farm level, science-based program designed to set a new standard in sustainably grown cotton, ensuring it contributes to the protection and preservation of the planet, using the most sustainable and responsible techniques. It is the only system that provides quantifiable, verifiable goals and measurement and drives continuous improvement in six key sustainability metrics – land use, soil carbon, water management, soil loss, greenhouse gas emissions, and energy efficiency.
It is also the world’s first sustainable cotton fiber program to offer its members article-level transparency across the supply chain. This is made possible by the Protocol Consumption Management Solution, or PCMS, which records and verifies the movement of U.S. Cotton fiber along the entire supply chain beginning at the gin.
Fairchild Studio: What are some of the sustainable growing practices the Trust Protocol measures that have moved the needle in terms of soil health?
We know that the environmental benefits of continuous improvement practices such as those outlined by regenerative agriculture principles, help U.S. cotton growers, and their partners, meet consumer demand for more sustainably grown and produced products. For example, there are three types of tillage adopted in cotton cultivation across the U.S.: conventional tillage, reduced tillage, and no-tillage. No-tillage avoids any mechanical tillage of the soil and attempts to keep soil disturbance to an absolute minimum, which is one of the main principles of regenerative agriculture. In 2021/22 more than half of reported Trust Protocol acres practiced a no-till approach, while 30 percent reported acreage practiced reduced tillage.
The Trust Protocol measures soil conservation and soil carbon, which are two primary components for preserving soil health. Soil conservation is a measure of soil loss due to erosion from water and wind, and soil carbon is vital in supporting water infiltration, water and nutrient holding, crop productivity, and carbon storage. The benefits of reduced and no-till production practices increases the amount of soil organic matter near the soil surface, and we are seeing the direct impact of these practices in our aggregated data on soil conservation and soil carbon, which can be found in our 2021/22 annual report.
Fairchild Studio: Can you give more detail into what Trust Protocol growers are doing to reach sustainability goals and measures?
Trust Protocol growers take a whole-farm approach using a combination of modern technology and responsible growing practices to reach sustainability goals and measurements.
We recently visited with Sledge Taylor, a Trust Protocol grower in Mississippi, during a farm tour we hosted for brands and retailers. Sledge has been farming for more than 50 years, and he said, “it’s better to take a holistic approach on a farm as there are many benefits that we may not even understand yet. That’s why we’re incorporating sustainability into a whole model.”
As technology has improved, growers have utilized emerging innovations to grow cotton more efficiently. According to a 2015 study, 51 percent of U.S. growers used GPS-enabled swath control to ensure they were not overlapping crop practices such as planting, fertilizer applications, and crop protection applications. 7 in 10 growers used GPS auto-steering functions on their tractors, tillers, pickers and more. Now, 89 percent of Trust Protocol growers use precision agriculture technologies such as multi-spectral images and ground-based sensors to further improve their sustainability.
Sledge is one of the many Trust Protocol growers who uses precision agriculture, which is another regenerative agriculture practice, to improve the environmental footprint of his farm.
“Precision agriculture allows us to use less water, less fertilizer, and less plant protection products in our fields,” he said. “We’ve incorporated soil sampling, GPS mapping and variable rate fertilizer application, which allows us to precisely monitor our inputs. It drives our continuous improvement so we can be our best environmentally.”
Additionally, Trust Protocol growers are setting aside in-field corridors and buffer zones that border cotton fields to grow back wild with native plants. These create natural habitats and food sources not just for bees, butterflies, and small birds like quail, but also for larger species like deer. In 2021/22, 71 percent of Trust Protocol growers installed and maintained field borders or buffer strips. Implementing field borders with perennial grasses allows pollinator species to thrive and improves the habitat quality for adjoining cotton-farmed areas which is beneficial for the crop itself. Typically, growers will set aside land that is less efficient, or with more challenging terrain, which in turn allows them to focus more efficiently on the most appropriate land for cotton production.
Fairchild Studio: How is data collected and verified on a farm level, and what does that mean in terms of viability?
Everything begins with our growers who provide farm-level information on six key sustainability metrics. By collecting this data, the Trust Protocol is providing our growers with self-assessment and benchmarking capabilities to identify areas of improvement in their operations.
For verification processes, all grower members are automatically placed into a producer group based on their growing region. The Trust Protocol then applies the square root methodology to determine the number of second and third-party verifications for that crop year.
The use of second party, or desktop, verification creates a more robust and credible verification cycle and system. Third-party, or onsite visits, are up to a half day visit walking through the farm as well as reviewing any additional paperwork required for the verification of the questionnaire and FPC piece.
If selected, participating in a third-party, independent verification is necessary for the grower to be considered in compliance with the program and a Trust Protocol representative will help walk you through the process.
Fairchild Studio: What does the future hold for the Trust Protocol? Can more improvements be made?
There is opportunity to bring greater transparency to the supply chain as the Trust Protocol continues to scale the program, and expanding the program is one of our priorities. On September 14th, the Trust Protocol was awarded a USDA grant in conjunction with the U.S. Climate Smart Commodity opportunity. The program will receive funding to build markets for climate-smart cotton and provide technical and financial assistance to over 1,000 U.S. cotton farmers to advance 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.
There is hope that as we grow the scope of the Trust Protocol, we will see an even greater impact. Continuous improvement drives the entire industry. When we present the Trust Protocol in our discussions with brands and retailers, and specifically with mills and manufactures, they’re encouraged by the robust data that it delivers, and they want to know how they can become involved. As we look ahead, we will continue to streamline the data collection so we can harness information better and then provide it to brands and retailers to help them meet their objectives.
We are also looking forward to increasing grower enrollment in the program. We know that the environmental benefits of more sustainable practices help U.S. cotton growers, and their partners meet consumer demand. These practices also allow cotton producers to be more efficient with their resources and how they manage their own farming operation. As more cotton producers learn about the demand for more sustainable raw materials, they will be encouraged to demonstrate their own sustainable growing practices and show that the U.S. cotton industry is leading the worldwide effort in responsible cotton production.