Each season brings both opportunities and risks. This season is starting with plenty of both. As I write this letter, 99% of our growing area is in an advanced phase of drought, and cotton futures are at an 11-year high. Grower decision-making is tricky given the high demand forecast for cotton and grains coupled with a problematic production outlook for the U.S., the world’s largest structural exporter.

As your marketing co-op, we also must make difficult decisions about expected crop size and the market outlook. We utilize years of marketing experience, data and analytics to make the best choices we can in real-time. Our goal each day is to refine our methods and deliver the best value to our grower-owners.

PCCA’s board is committed to providing growers with products and services that help enhance their profitability. Toward that ambition, PCCA’s Board of Directors recently completed a comprehensive review of the company’s strategies to be the preferred marketer for growers in the Southwest U.S. Over the next couple of years, PCCA will offer growers more choices to market their cotton and enhance our services to cotton gins. In addition, the board also committed to more direct communication with our grower-owners. That means increased use of technology and personal communication from our staff and board.

This issue of Field & Fiber® is focused on how the cotton industry is continuously improving to provide future generations the opportunities to sustain their families’ farming heritage. In the same spirit, PCCA and other regional cooperatives are doing their part to ensure that future farmers have access to the markets, products and technologies that will make that goal possible.

P.S. We were pleased that Field & Fiber received the Chairman’s Prize at the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives 2022 Annual Meeting. PCCA is fortunate to be able to tell the stories of our growers through this world-class publication.