Cotton Is Woven Into Everyday American Life

Cotton is in the clothes we wear, the sheets we sleep on, the towels in our homes, and the medical supplies in our hospitals. It is also in everyday products many people may not immediately associate with agriculture, from paper and soap to cottonseed oil used in products like salad dressing, makeup, and toothpaste.

In other words, cotton is one of the clearest examples of how modern agriculture touches far more than the grocery aisle.

One bale of cotton weighs about 480 pounds—and from that single bale, manufacturers can produce everyday essentials like more than 1,200 t-shirts, more than 4,000 pairs of socks, hundreds of towels, bed sheets, jeans, diapers, and other household goods. Cotton byproducts from the same harvest are also used across food, feed, and consumer product supply chains.

But growing cotton is not easy.

Cotton farmers face weeds, weather, pests, tight margins, low prices, and rising costs. To stay competitive and keep producing the fiber families and manufacturers rely on, they need access to proven crop protection tools.

One of the most important tools to grow cotton is glyphosate.

Glyphosate is used on 89% of U.S. cotton acres to manage weeds, making it one of the most relied-upon tools in cotton production. For cotton growers, weed control is especially important. Weeds compete with cotton plants for water, sunlight, nutrients, and space—all of which affect crop quality and yield. When weeds are not managed effectively, farmers may be forced to spend more on alternative products, make additional passes across the field, or return to more intensive tillage practices that use more fuel, labor, and time.

That matters because cotton farmers are already operating in a difficult economic environment. USDA has projected that low cotton prices are contributing to reduced planted acreage, with 2025/26 U.S. all-cotton planted area expected to fall nearly 11% to 10 million acres. At the same time, the United States remains one of the world’s leading cotton exporters, meaning the strength of American cotton production matters not just for farmers, but for the global textile supply chain.

Losing access to crop protection chemistries would make an already challenging situation harder. For cotton specifically, analysis found that replacing glyphosate with conventional tillage to manage weeds would add more than $22 million in costs.

Cotton is an important part of the broader agricultural system. Cottonseed is used for oil, meal, and livestock feed, helping support food and feed supply chains in addition to textile production. For every 100 pounds of cotton fiber produced, the plant also produces about 162 pounds of cottonseed.

Cotton linters are commonly used to make products like paper. Cottonseed hulls can be used in non-food products, including soap and fertilizers. Cottonseed oil is used in a wide variety of consumer goods. That means pressures on cotton production can ripple outward—affecting farmers, rural communities, manufacturers, livestock producers, and consumers.

Cotton farmers know their land. They know the pressures they face. And they know that modern agriculture requires modern tools.

Protecting access to essential crop protection products helps safeguard American cotton, strengthen the fiber supply chain, support rural economies, and keep U.S. farmers competitive in a global market.

When we protect the tools farmers rely on, we protect more than the crop in the field.

We protect the fabric of everyday life.

At MAA, we are proud to have cotton partner organizations from across the country: California Cotton Ginners & Growers Association, Plains Cotton Growers, Southern Rolling Plains Cotton Growers Association, and Southern Texas Cotton & Grain Association.