Joe Nicosia challenges cotton producers to see manmade fibers as the real enemy, not other countries. He advocates for promoting cotton’s natural benefits over synthetic materials.
America’s reign as the world’s largest cotton exporter ended with the 2023/2024 season, as Brazil surpassed U.S. cotton production. But rather than view Brazil as its competitor, Joe Nicosia challenged a room packed with cotton producers and industry in Lubbock, Texas, to see that the real enemy isn’t another country but manmade fibers.
“Brazil has done an excellent job in expanding their cotton production and they’re going to be our largest competitor for years and years to come,” Nicosia said.
But like U.S. producers, Brazil needs a marketplace for its cotton as well. “Along with Australia, Brazil and the U.S., the three main, what we would call, machine-picked, contamination-free cottons, the three preferential export bales in the world, we all have a commonality to increase world cotton consumption,” he said. “We can all benefit.”
Nicosia, Louis Dreyfus Company executive vice president and global trading operations officer and former National Cotton Council chairman, spoke recently at the Plains Cotton Growers annual meeting in Lubbock, Texas.
He told Farm Press, Brazil is on board. “We’ve already signed preliminary agreements with them to try to promote consumption,” he said. He meets with them in two months to discuss specifics.
“Brazil doesn’t view the United States as its competition,” Nicosia noted. “So, I’m trying to change the United States to realize our competition is manmade fiber, it’s not Brazil.”
For every 1% fiber share that the U.S. gains back from manmade fibers, there are 5 million bales of world consumption, he noted. “We were down from 40% to 22%, so we have a long way to go, but you don’t have to move much in order to have a real positive impact on cotton prices.”
Advocacy
Nicosia listed advocacy — communicating the positive attributes of natural fibers over manmade — as one of the spokes in the wheel in increasing consumption.
“We need to get that word out to the consumer,” he said. “We also need to talk about what’s happening with microplastics in the world and the negative effect that it’s having on our society, health, water and food.”
A consumer connection needs to be made between polyester and plastic microfibers, which Nicosia pointed out are one in the same. “People don’t always draw those lines together. They stop at plastic bottles and water bottles,” he told the crowd. “But we know it’s in our water and our fish. It’s in our beer. It’s in everything.”
Microplastics are also in our bodies, he said. “They’re finding it all over male, and more importantly, female reproductive organs. Huge amounts of microfibers and microplastics are in there.”
Nicosia referenced a Good Morning America story that focused on microplastics and the brain. “The average brain has 7 grams of microplastics, more than the weight of a plastic spoon.
“You don’t think you’re ingesting this stuff? Where’s it coming from when you’ve got a lot of plastic products in the world? It’s in our water and everything else,” he said, noting it’s coming from yoga or athletic pants/tights, golf shirts and other microfibers.
Dr. Tara Narula, ABC’s chief medical correspondent, noted in that segment that one way to reduce microplastics is to “use clothing that has natural fibers as opposed to synthetic fibers.”
Nicosia questioned attendees. “So, did we talk to this lady? Did we reach out to the organization? Did we jump on this bandwagon? No, we haven’t done anything yet.
“They’re telling our story for us. We need advocacy.”
Producer confirmation
Nicosia’s message hit home with Jon Whatley, who attended the Lubbock meeting with fellow South Texas Cotton & Grain representatives. In the days following, he and his wife, Kelly, welcomed two grandchildren into the world, born days apart.
While the Whatleys, cotton producers from Odem, Texas, have long been advocates of reading labels and prioritizing 100% cotton, the thought of what fabric will be swaddled next to their grandchildren’s newborn skin, has elevated that priority. And not just because they grow it.
Jon said it’s because cotton, a plant-derived fiber, is natural and safe. And after hearing Nicosia, he said that’s a message he and the industry need to do a better job of telling.
“My house is built out in one of our fields. I farm all the way around it,” Jon noted. “We live that environment. We believe in that environment. It is a safe environment. We’ve got to let people know, this is a product that is grown in my backyard and I’m saying, ‘Take it to your house. Put your kids in it. Put your grandkids in it.’”
Jon contrasted cotton to polyester, a manmade, nonbiodegradable and petroleum-based product.
“We want these kids to be in a good, safe setting. You want them swaddled in something that’s cotton, something that’s biodegradable,” the proud grandpa said.
He’s mindful that cotton may cost more. “But look at what you’re buying. If you’re raising two young kids and everything in the washer is polyester, is that really what you want your kids or grandkids ingesting and in your landfill?”
According to a study by the University of Plymouth, polyester releases about 500,000 microfibers (a subset of microplastics) per wash when laundered at 30°C or 40°C (86°F or 104°F). Among synthetic fabrics, polyester ranks second behind acrylic, which releases about 730,000 fibers per wash.
“We’ve got to get the right people telling the right story,” Jon said.
“Sometimes we in ag like to go and do our own thing quietly, be proud of what we do. We’re not braggadocios people,” he noted. “The media has changed and how people get their information has changed and we’ve got to change with it.”
Jon referenced Nicosia’s comment regarding how polyester shirts remain indefinitely in the environment. “The only thing left on a pair of cotton pants is the zipper,” he said. “We hear about people wanting to be environmentally safe, wanting to do what’s healthy for their kids and grandkids, then we need them buying cotton.”
Advocacy begins with support within the cotton industry. Whether a cotton grower is in the Southeast or the West or produces long or short staple, Jon says “we need to band together as a group.”
He reiterated the industry’s environmentally safe production. “We are making sure we’re delivering a product that is safe for somebody to put into their household, for somebody to wear, for somebody to wash in their house. We want people to understand what we can offer by using cotton.”
Polyester has its place, Jon admitted. “But we firmly believe that we need to do a better job of telling our story, so people’s first choice is cotton and not polyester.”
Department of Advocacy
Nicosia proposed the creation of a Department of Advocacy. “There’s great research being done all over the United States on the negative impacts of plastic microfibers, but we’re not interacting with them. We should be on their doorstep.”
The department could follow up on microplastic research and how microplastics are impacting health, and then interweave that information into the cotton story. “But we also need to expand who we’re talking to,” Nicosia said.
He advised pairing with animal health or environmentally concerned groups, people with common interests regarding plastic’s negative impacts on the world, to spread cotton’s story, rather than just focusing on U.S. cotton production.
“Because this issue is much bigger than cotton production,” Nicosia said. “It’s really about microfibers and the health of the world.”
Source: https://www.farmprogress.com/