By Jarral Neeper
Bakersfield, Calif.
The U.S. cotton industry today is clearly different than it was 10 or even five years ago. That's especially true out West, where water availability and higher profit potential from other crops drastically reduced California cotton acreage to the lowest point since our cooperative formed in 1927. The global economic crisis and commodity market volatility have altered the cotton market, perhaps forever.
Despite these changes, Calcot has remained a strong company, though it has not been easy. I attribute this to our unique co-op structure: An enterprise created to directly market cotton produced by family farms, and still owned and directed by those family farmers, 83 years later.
I'm not saying that we have not been affected by tough financial times; we have, as have many merchant firms. But I gain some confidence in the fact that we have experienced hard times before and prospered.
This is due to the fact that we view difficult economic conditions as an opportunity to examine and analyze what we're doing, keeping the best ideas and practices and jettisoning those that no longer serve our purpose.
Calcot has a proud history and an excellent reputation. Insuring we have a successful future meant taking advantage of the downturn to study everything in our business model and see if changes were warranted to put ourselves in a position to capitalize on opportunities.
source : cottonfarming
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