Cotton LEADS Welcomes Wrangler’s Soil Health Commitment
May 23, 2018 The Cotton LEADS program has added Wrangler as its newest member, recognizing the brand’s commitment to promoting soil health practices as a foundation for improving sustainability in the industry.
The global denim manufacturer joins more than 540 program partners supporting continual improvement by cotton growers in the United States and Australia.
Wrangler launched its sustainable cotton program in 2017 and plans to double its use of cotton acquired through the program by 2019. Most recently, the brand published “Seeding Soil’s Potential“ – an overview of 45 scientific reports that definitively concludes that the use of conservation tillage, cover crops and crop rotation result in greater crop resiliency and productivity, among a host of other benefits to the grower and the land.
“Joining Cotton LEADS is an important step in building Wrangler’s program for sustainable U.S. cotton,“ said Wrangler Sustainability Director Roian Atwood. “Cotton LEADS has deep research on productivity within the industry, and we’re particularly interested in the program’s attention to soil health.”
The National Cotton Council of America and Cotton Incorporated advised in the development of industrywide goals for 2025 to maintain or improve U.S. cotton productivity levels while decreasing soil loss by 50% and increasing soil carbon – an overall indicator of soil health – by 30%.
Other goals include:
- Decreasing land use by 13%
- Decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by 39%
- Decreasing energy inputs by 15%
- Increasing water efficiency by 18%.
To help achieve these goals, Cotton LEADS developed online tutorials for growers, including science-based, soil-health recommendations for different regions and growing conditions. The organization is also working with global stakeholders to create a soil-health decision tool to help growers identify and address observed problems in the field.
“Measurement and science are the fundamental elements of the continual improvement efforts of the Cotton LEADS program,” said Dr. Kater Hake, vice president for agricultural and environmental research at Cotton Incorporated. “We want to help cotton growers evaluate and measure the conservation needs and benefits of their agricultural lands. Wrangler shares this goal, and the brand’s strong reputation among growers will undoubtedly help in raising awareness for this important work.”
Cotton LEADS is a joint effort of the Australian and U.S. cotton industries. Its founding members are Cotton Australia, the Australian Cotton Shippers Association, the Cotton Foundation, the National Cotton Council of America, Cotton Council International and Cotton Incorporated.
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