- Acreage Expansion: Planted acres enrolled for the 2025 crop year reach 2.58 million acres, an 18% increase from the previous year
- Sustained Growth: Grower enrollment now represents 1,512 U.S. cotton growers, a 14% increase from 2024
MEMPHIS, TENN (June 10, 2025) – The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol today announced its sixth consecutive year of growth, marking an expansion in both planted acres and enrolled growers. The program now represents 2.58 million planted acres, an 18% increase from the previous year, planted by 1,512 participating growers – a 14% rise compared to 2024. This growth underscores the program’s increasing value to U.S. cotton farmers, particularly in today’s challenging environment with fluctuating input costs, changing weather, and evolving market conditions.
By participating in the Trust Protocol, growers receive actionable data-driven insights that help them understand their environmental footprint, optimize farming practices, and improve overall efficiency. This allows them to demonstrate their commitment to responsible practices through measurement and verification.
“We are proud of the continued increase in grower participation in the Trust Protocol, the voluntary sustainability program for U.S. Cotton, which means greater sourcing opportunities for brands and retailers around the world, including increased access to U.S. Cotton and Protocol Cotton,” said Daren Abney, Executive Director of the Trust Protocol. “This consistent increase highlights the value growers find in our program as they look for opportunities to enhance resilience in the face of current economic and environmental pressures.”
The Trust Protocol provides a transparent and verifiable system for tracking U.S. Cotton and Protocol Cotton to finished product, giving brands and retailers the assurance they need to help meet their sourcing goals and reporting requirements. The Trust Protocol currently has over 2,500 mill and manufacturer members around the world, and more than 45 global brands, including Ralph Lauren, Gap, Levi’s, Carhartt, J.Crew, and Urban Outfitters.
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About the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol
The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol is the voluntary sustainability program for U.S. cotton growers and traceability platform for all U.S. Cotton. It brings quantifiable and verifiable goals and measurement to responsible cotton production and drives continuous improvement in six key sustainability areas; land use, soil health, water management, greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, and fiber quality. The Trust Protocol underpins and verifies U.S. cotton’s sustainability progress through sophisticated data collection and independent third-party verification.
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