Checking Sustainability Boxes with Cotton
It’s time for your Southeast Regional Ag News. On the Ag Information Network, I’m Haylie Shipp.
Making a good cotton crop is one thing. Doing it in a way that benefits the environment is next level, and officials with leading cotton sector organizations say that is where Georgia’s cotton growers are.
Telling that story was a major theme at the Georgia Cotton Commission Annual Meeting, held late January at the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center, where general session speakers praised growers for their work and shared opportunities available for farmers who continue to pursue environmental benefits.
“We’re trying to tell our industry’s story,” said GCC Executive Director Taylor Sills, who pointed out a variety of initiatives the organization is using toward that goal.
According to the Georgia Farm Bureau, Cotton Inc. Vice President Agricultural and Environmental Research Dr. Ryan Kurtz provided updates on the research organization’s work and noted that cotton growers are checking many key sustainability boxes. Kurtz pointed out that over the past 50 years, the cotton sector has reduced land use by 30%, cut soil loss by 45%, reduced water consumption by 58%, trimmed energy use by 31% and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 25%.
