TEXTILES.ORG
Truterra™ LLC, the sustainability business unit of farmer-owned cooperative Land O’Lakes Inc., has announced a new collaboration with Cotton Inc., a not-for-profit research and marketing company representing Upland cotton, to advance the adoption of sustainable farming practices across 50,000 acres of cotton in the mid-South sourcing region.
The initiative will tap the Truterra Stewardship platform and Truterra retailer member GreenPoint Ag to help connect consumer brands to verified sources of more sustainable cotton in their supply chains.
Truterra and GreenPoint Ag will work with participating cotton growers to establish an environmental sustainability baseline for each field, identify year-over-year improvement opportunities and model the impact of various conservation practices on sustainability and profitability. These efforts will help participating growers measure and improve water quality, land use, soil conservation, soil carbon, irrigation water use efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity and energy use on their cotton fields.
As part of this drive to deepen sustainability practices among U.S. growers, Truterra and GreenPoint Ag will also help participating growers enroll in the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol. The Trust Protocol is a system that will set a new standard in more sustainably grown cotton, giving brands and retailers the critical assurances they need to source U.S. cotton.