USDA unveiled the Great American Cotton Plan Thursday, an initiative to “strengthen the cotton farm economy, restore domestic textile manufacturing, expand cotton trade opportunities, and increase demand for products made with American-grown cotton.”
The announcement comes as cotton producers face a fifth consecutive year of negative returns driven by rising input costs, trade distortions, and increasing competition from synthetic materials. As part of the plan, USDA will elevate the “Plant Not Plastic” initiative to encourage consumers to purchase products made with healthy natural American cotton fibers rather than synthetic plastic-based alternatives.
USDA forecasters estimate that producers could lose approximately $2.6 billion across 9 million planted acres during the upcoming crop year. Since 1980, the number of U.S. cotton gins has declined from 2,254 to 446, while domestic textile production facilities have sharply contracted over the last two decades.
Listen to Secretary Rollins’ announcement here:
Sec. Rollins announces cotton plan 3:42