Agricultural biotechnology company Avalo, the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol and TextileGenesis have released a report urging fashion brands to rethink cotton sourcing strategies as climate change, extreme weather and rising agricultural costs threaten supply-chain resilience.
Titled The New Rules of Cotton: Considerations for Building Resilience into Textile Supply Chains Amidst Near-Term Climate Trends, the report presents 11 strategies for brands, textile mills and sourcing teams to secure cotton supplies amid growing environmental and market uncertainty.
The report was developed following a roundtable during New York Climate Week, convened by Dana Davis Consulting at the Explorers Club. The discussion brought together 35 leaders from sourcing, materials, product development, sustainability and supply-chain management across luxury, outdoor, home goods and mass-market businesses.
Avalo and its partners argue that fashion companies must move beyond short-term price-driven purchasing and address the risks facing cotton producers. Climate pressures, oil-price shocks and a shrinking agricultural base are increasing uncertainty for businesses that depend on a stable supply of the natural fibre.
The report highlights mounting pressure on U.S. cotton growers, whose production costs have risen while cotton prices have remained relatively stagnant for decades. The number of U.S. cotton farmers declined from approximately 16,000 in 2021 to 14,000 in 2024, raising concerns about the long-term resilience of the agricultural supply base.
To address these challenges, the report recommends incorporating climate and supply risks directly into cotton costing models instead of treating the fibre as a price-stable commodity. It also encourages brands and suppliers to establish pre-season commitments and multi-season purchasing agreements to distribute risks more evenly across the supply chain.
Such arrangements could give growers greater certainty when planning production and investing in farming practices, while helping buyers reduce exposure to supply disruptions. The report also calls for financial incentives that better reward growers for improving resilience and environmental performance.
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Traceability is another major priority in Avalo’s recommendations. The report identifies difficulties in tracking cotton bales beyond the spinning stage, limiting visibility into fibre origins and the movement of materials through textile supply chains.
It urges companies to connect traceability data to every purchase order, positioning supply-chain transparency as an operational tool rather than merely a way to communicate sustainability commitments to consumers.
Better data could help sourcing teams anticipate disruptions, verify fibre origins and make more informed purchasing decisions. The report also recommends encouraging regenerative cultivation practices, including initiatives such as USRegen and Regenerative Organic Certified.
“Fashion is an agricultural business, whether it thinks of itself that way or not,” said Tricia Carey, chief commercial officer at Avalo.
She said industry leaders were looking for ways to share risks with growers and invest in resilience to strengthen cotton supplies over the coming decade rather than focusing only on immediate purchasing needs.
Liz Hershfield, co-executive director of the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, said growers were carrying increasing climate risks. Earlier brand commitments, payments linked to outcomes and support for more resilient farming practices could help strengthen the farms on which textile companies depend.
Dinelle Salvador, business development manager at TextileGenesis, said traceability had become a means of anticipating disruptions and verifying fibre origins, beyond its traditional role in consumer-facing sustainability communication.
Although the roundtable focused on U.S. markets and farmers, the report says its recommendations are applicable to procurement teams across the global textile and apparel industry.
For cotton-dependent manufacturing countries such as Bangladesh, the findings highlight the relevance of reliable sourcing relationships, transparent fibre records and longer-term purchasing commitments as international buyers strengthen sustainability requirements. However, the report does not provide Bangladesh-specific findings or quantify the impact of adopting its recommendations in the country.
Avalo and its partners describe the report as a living playbook, inviting brands and suppliers to test its strategies and share their experiences.
The report’s central message is that fashion companies must demonstrate progress through actual purchase orders, contractual commitments, transparent incentives and investment at farm level, rather than relying on sustainability pledges alone. The organizations say such changes are essential to building more resilient cotton supply chains as climate risks intensify.