As you watch the news, you have probably been hearing about the various impacts of the government shutdown. National parks that are overrun with trash and TSAs callng in sick due to the shutdown. I hadn’t heard much about the impact on cotton farmers or the industry til this week. Like other areas of US business and culture, the impacts… Read More
I grew up in an area where gardens and yards were pretty common but farms, that took a bit of a drive to get to. And while I am sure agriculture was mentioned in my school, it would have been passing mentions in history, science, etc. We certainly didn’t have a “dirt to shirt” program about cotton in high school… Read More
Egyptian cotton. The two words come together pretty frequently when I’m talking to people who like finer cotton products. There seems to be an ethereal sense when they words are spoken as people think about smoothness and fineness. Having had some Egyptian cotton products, I understand how people’s imaginations are so captivated by the feel of the fabric. The Marketing… Read More
In June, I helped organize a meeting for the office and that’s when I got the chance to meet Darren Brown, a cotton farmer in the Missouri Bootheel (that small part of Missouri near the Mississippi River, Arkansas and Tennessee). Love that he was willing to stick with me through cotton harvest! Since I hit the highway to and from… Read More
It has been a joke told for years in the cotton industry. In fact, each March (if you live in the Mid-South) and April (if you live in Texas) the giggles are heard as people who work in cotton say they are spending their weekend at the gin show. Some of our friends (and sometimes family) have a different first… Read More
I love the excitement behind the question I get asked each spring — “Can you get me some cotton seed for my garden?” reminds me that other people would like to see the wonder that is cotton seed turning into a plant with broad leaves, slowly putting on buds that become flowers and ultimately form those beautiful bolls we all… Read More