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Wrangler's bid on sustainable cotton to spur U.S. fibre production

By Angela Gonzalez-Rodriguez

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Business

The preferred cowboys’ fashion label is bidding strongly on sustainable cotton, launching a pilot program to help U.S. cotton farmers reach the next level in sustainable growing practices. The initiative is posed to spur the country’s sustainable cotton production in the next years.

Wrangler states that about half of the cotton for its products comes from U.S. growers. According to a recent press release, the brand is motivated to buy the fibre without leaving its borders because the U.S. cotton industry also outperforms most other cotton-growing regions in the world on environmental metrics.

Wrangler, however, wants to determine how even greater environmental and economic benefits can be achieved through a programmatic focus on soil health in the U.S., stating that “Scientific research shows greater attention to soil health can further reduce the water and energy inputs required to grow cotton and other crops.”

WWF estimates that only 2.4 percent of the world’s farmland is planted with cotton, but the crop accounts for 24 percent of worldwide sales of pesticides. Cotton is the most often used natural fibre worldwide, so the way it’s harvested has quite an impact on the environment and the global textile industry.

In 2016, the total global production of cotton amounted to some 103.17 million bales, reports Statista. India, China, and the United States were the largest producers, responsible for more than the half of the world’s total production volume. The total global supply of cotton, stocks included, stood at approximately 238.57 million bales in 2016.

Wrangler launches pilot to help U.S. cotton farmers take sustainability to the next level

According to their web, “Wrangler's sustainable work is focused on three areas — land, people and industry. In addition to the cotton pilot project and soil health education, other programs include a commitment to 100 percent renewable electricity by 2025, zero waste facilities and manufacturing and technology improvements that have saved 3 billion litres of water in the last decade.”

In a trade conference celebrated in late May, Roian Atwood, Wrangler sustainability director further added that they “are working with a cotton grower in Alabama to explore the best way to implement and measure the effects of robust soil practices like no-till, crop rotation and cover cropping. We hope to have dozens of growers in the program within a few years.” The program started with an Alabama cotton farmer last year, and Wrangler aims to expand the initiative to all American farmers within its supply chain.

The family Atwood referred to is the owner of Newby Farms and is working with Wrangler and advisers from the Soil Health Institute to unlock further improvements to cotton yield, irrigation, energy inputs, greenhouse gas emissions and soil conservation. 40,000 pounds of Newby's cotton will be bought and used to make a special collection of Wrangler denim jeans that will be sold in 2018.

“Our family has always looked for new ways to make farming more economical, while taking better care of the land,” Jerry Allen Newby said. “There's been a learning curve, but we're beginning to see good results with things like cover crops and soil grid mapping.” Newby stressed that “It's important to industry and will be more important as time goes on,” James Newby said. “It's been a while in the making and we think it will be good for cotton and U.S. farmers as whole.”

Photo:Wrangler, 70 anniversary collection

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