Field to Closet initiative pairs cotton growers with retailers

Cotton undertakes an incredible journey, from the day the farmer sows the seed into the soil to when the fiber is incorporated into a pair of blue jeans or bed sheets and placed on a retail store rack. Unfortunately, the agricultural story of cotton is often lost in the shuffle before it reaches the consumer.

Deltapine Field to Closet is designed to bridge the gap between cotton growers, retailers and consumers and connect the entire cotton supply chain. It allows like-minded retailers and brands to better tell the story of cotton products to their customers. Additionally, cotton growers who participate in the program are rewarded with a premium for their cotton.

Lindsey Battle, trait marketing and launch lead-regional crops at Bayer Crop Science, said the Field to Closet initiative was originally created in 2017 to reward cotton growers for producing high-quality fiber by pairing them with clothing brands and retailers who would pay a premium for the product. However, in the early stages of the program, Deltapine brand learned that retailers’ priorities were different than they had anticipated.

“Cotton varieties being planted today deliver better fiber quality, and that has become less of an issue for the clothing companies,” Battle said. “For Field to Closet, it is now more about sustainability and giving back to the communities. As we work with clothing brands and retailers trying to understand their needs, that’s how Field to Closet reshaped itself and evolved into what you see today.”

Consumers continue to demand more sustainable products and knowledge of where their food and fiber comes from, and brands and retailers are responding in a big way.

“Cotton has made extremely large strides in terms of the sustainable benefits, considering the input efficiencies and the production increases on an acre,” said Lauren Bessent, Deltapine brand manager at Bayer Crop Science. “We believe it is important to tell the story from a grower’s perspective about how cotton growers are farming, sustainably, today. We want to connect the brands and retailers who prioritize these values with the growers who have these stories to tell.”

Mutually beneficial partnerships

The Field to Closet program was reinvigorated in the past year and is actively sourcing brands and retailers that are looking to partner with the program and cotton growers across the Cotton Belt. Field to Closet serves as a matchmaker between these companies and Deltapine cotton growers, which benefits all three parties.

“It’s a connection point for brands and retailers to market cotton products to the end consumer and connect that buying opportunity to cotton growers throughout the U.S.,” Bessent said.

Participating brands and retailers work through the Field to Closet program to define their marketing needs, target audiences and the type of cotton and marketing strategy they are seeking. From this information, FtC will pair them up with a grower who can supply the fiber while meeting their quality requirements and using farming practices aligned with their goals.

  “We really try to understand their needs and what they’re trying to promote,” Battle said. “A lot of brands and retailers today have made sustainability commitments, and they’re still trying to figure out how they’re going to meet those commitments. One of the things that we can provide from a Field to Closet perspective is a connection with those growers who are producing cotton sustainably, which can really help with some of those goals that the brands and retailers have.”

Bessent said different brands value different approaches, such as regenerative agriculture, while other retailers might focus on 100% American-grown cotton for their products.

“Even with the differentiated strategies between brands and retailers, the Field to Closet program is agile enough to tailor to a variety of requests,” Bessent said.

To ensure cotton in the program is produced sustainably, FtC relies on the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol—a program initiated by the National Cotton Council that measures six key sustainability metrics—as a verification source. Battle said the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol is considered the standard today for sustainably grown cotton, and it is the best way to guarantee that the cotton being recommended to brands and retailers is sustainably sourced.

Benefits to the grower and their community

The major advantage for the farmers who participate in Field to Closet is the certified grower giveback, which rewards the producer for sustainability efforts. Battle said this incentive gives the grower additional resources to reinvest into the farm and continue to improve farming practices.

“The brand and retail partners currently engaged in the program are committed to giving the grower a premium for their cotton,” Bessent said.

The Field to Closet program can also benefit local communities with strong ties to cotton production, Bessent said.

“By FtC supporting cotton growers through increasing the demand for their cotton with the certified grower giveback, the growers’ local communities are indirectly supported,” Bessent said. “By supporting the cotton grower, the industry, infrastructure and community can also benefit.”

One of the brands that is partnering with Deltapine brand for the Field to Closet initiative is the Seed II Seams brand in Swainsboro, Georgia. This brand utilizes a U.S. supply chain where products travel only a short distance from the field to where they are sold. Seeds II Seams leverages locally-sourced cotton through the Field to Closet program to market its merchandise.

“The average T-shirt travels about 16,000 miles from the time it’s grown to sewn,” Battle said. “But with Seed II Seams, their T-shirts only travel 250 miles ‘as the crow flies’ because their entire manufacturing process and creation is within a small window in the southeastern United States. That supports their sustainability story because you’re not trucking and shipping cotton all over the world.”

Battle said another goal of the Field to Closet program is to stabilize the demand for cotton.

“As cotton prices go up and down, we see the textile trends shift in the market,” Battle said. “A benefit of this project is that if we can get brands and retailers excited about cotton, that’s good for the overall cotton industry as well.”

Bessent said the Deltapine brand values are elevating cotton growers and U.S. cotton production. “We’re committed to continue supporting American cotton growers and their efforts to efficiently produce the highest quality and most sustainable fiber, while also supporting the growers in their own local communities,” she said.

To learn more about the Field to Closet initiative, visit www.fieldtocloset.com.

Lacey Vilhauer can be reached at 620-227-1871 or [email protected].