The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol has announced the appointment of Marjory Walker and Liz Hershfield as co-directors to accelerate the program’s growth by advancing market adoption, developing new market-driven offerings, and fostering greater collaboration across the entire cotton value chain. Walker and Hershfield will oversee distinct but complementary pillars of the program. Walker will lead the operational and programmatic framework, …
Trump Spotlights Deere Announcement in Iowa
When President Donald J. Trump spoke in Iowa yesterday, he made the announcement that John Deere is building two new major factories in the United States, a state-of-the-art distribution center near Hebron, Indiana, and a cutting-edge excavator factory in Kernersville, North Carolina, both set to open in the next year. “We got the chairman of John Deere here…it’s a great …
Preview Interview of 2026 CattleCon
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) is gearing up for CattleCon 2026 in Nashville, set to take place next week despite recent winter weather challenges. NCBA Senior Executive Director of Meetings and Events Kristin Torres confirmed that downtown Nashville is recovering well from the ice storm that still has thousands of residents without power. “It does look like it’s going …
Drought and Heat in Cotton Belt Outlook
While much of the southern Cotton Belt is in a deep freeze right now, the big concern in the forecast for this season is drought and heat. Eric Snodgrass of Nutrien Ag Solutions told cotton growers at the 2026 Beltwide Cotton Conferences that much of the weather risk facing the Cotton Belt in 2026 can be traced to the Pacific …
Cotton Trust Protocol Grows Sustainability
The U.S. cotton industry’s voluntary sustainability program has achieved significant success in just five years, according to an update from the National Cotton Council at recent Beltwide Cotton Conferences. Marjory Walker, Vice President of Council Operations, says the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol has grown rapidly since it launched in July 2020. “We actually have 2,500 global members representing 25 brands …
Congress Devastates Supporters as it Punts on E15
Supporters of nationwide, year-round E15 were once again kicked to the curb by Congress, after weeks of negotiations between farm, ethanol, oil and refinery interests to craft wording that would have included it in the funding bill. Instead lawmakers have opted to create a new “Rural Domestic Energy Council” to develop potential legislative proposals on E15. It’s just too much …
Alltech Harvest Analysis 2025
Alltech, a global leader in in the agriculture industry, hosted a live broadcast, “From Field to Feed: 2025 Crop and Mycotoxin Analysis”, streamed live from Alltech’s headquarters in Lexington, Kentucky, U.S. on Jan. 15, 2026, and is now available to watch on demand. During the broadcast, the panel of experts shared timely insights into this year’s harvest conditions and emerging …
Breeding Cotton for Jassid Resistance
The cotton jassid is a brand new pest for U.S. cotton growers but India has been dealing with it for years, which makes that country a good source for ways to control it, including plant breeding. Roy Cantrell, Wheelertex Consulting, has spent the past ten years consulting in India and he shared some of his insights at the recent Beltwide …
ZimmCast 755 – Beltwide Cotton Conferences
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman. Part of December into January was a little rough for the ZimmComm Team. Between some bugs going around to two short trips to see family. But now all’s well and it’s time for a new episode. In December we posted some “Oh the places we’ve been!” details. We started in the …
Terrifying Tariffs and the Global Cotton Market
The Beltwide Cotton Economic Outlook Conference this year was a sobering one for the industry. “Cotton prices have been stagnant since planting…we’ve traded in more or less a six cent range over the last six months,” said Beau Stephenson, Omnicotton, Inc. in his presentation on the Changing Global Cotton Market. “This is not an exciting price pattern for the producers …