e3® Sustainable Cotton

A Sustainable Cotton Life Cycle Starts with Farmers

From seed to bale, the e3 Sustainable Cotton program by BASF provides an entirely traceable, transparent, sustainable cotton supply chain – all stewarded by FiberMax® and Stoneville® cotton growers in the U.S. 

Environmentally 

Responsible

e3 growers incorporate environmentally responsible farming practices and work to continuously improve the health of their land through regenerative agriculture.

Economically

Viable

Purchasing e3 Sustainable Cotton ensures economic viability for the cotton farms of today and tomorrow. 

Socially

Equitable

The e3 Sustainable Cotton program promotes socially equitable cotton production and grows for the good of our communities. 

  

   

Why Join?

Traceability

Field- and bale-level traceability provide proof of your sustainable and regenerative agriculture practices, giving you the tools to tell your story.

Integration

Easy integration with your existing farm management system and local cotton gin software platforms, to make data collection and reporting efficient, streamlined and secure.

Promotion

Expanded market access and awareness, helping to improve the earning potential of your sustainably produced cotton.

Join the e3 Sustainable Cotton Program

Enroll in one of two ways:

ONE-STEP ENROLLMENT

Sign up now to get dedicated assistance between 1/1/24-3/31/24 for easy one-time enrollment of your 2023 bales, plus all field and sustainability information.

SELF-ENROLLMENT

Take steps to input your field information now and receive a simple follow up to complete enrollment of your 2023 bales before the program closes.

  

Creating a Traceable

Supply Chain

e3 Sustainable Cotton improves cotton traceability and connects the entire cotton supply chain, from farmers to brands, retailers, and consumers. 

 

BASF sets the standard for sustainability in cotton. It starts with high-quality premium FiberMax and Stoneville cotton seed that’s traceable from the individual farmer to the gin and then through merchants, mills, and retailers. 

   

Championing Sustainable Agriculture

Practices in the Cotton Industry

e3 Sustainable Cotton farmers grow in almost all of the U.S. cotton-production states. Every e3 farmer incorporates sustainable agriculture into their operation, including regenerative agriculture practices, to grow their cotton crops. Their traceable cotton tracks specific environmental and social outcomes1 unique to each individual farmer. In 2022, growers enrolled in the e3 Sustainable Cotton program made positive contributions across eight key sustainability metrics.

of e3 Sustainable Cotton farmers rely on natural rainfall

of e3 Sustainable Cotton farmers use reduced tillage practices

tons of reduced carbon dioxide emissions

of e3 farmers incorporate practices that build soil carbon

Smart Sprayer

Irrigation Water Use & Water Quality

37% of e3 farmers rely on rainfall instead of irrigation to grow their cotton. The 63% who use irrigation average 261 gallons of water per pound of lint cotton produced.

Pesticide Management & Usage for Cotton Pest Control

Herbicides and other crop protection technology help farmers implement sustainable and regenerative cotton growing practices like reduced tillage and no-till farming.

Woman standing in cotton field
Baby plants in soil

Soil Conservation & Fertility Management

79% of e3 Sustainable Cotton farmers practice reduced tillage to protect their No. 1 asset — the soil. Reduced tillage improves soil health and saves e3 Sustainable Cotton farmers an average of 1.4 tons of soil per acre from erosion loss. 

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Agriculture plays a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and BASF helps e3 farmers reduce their footprint and increase yields with advanced cottonseed varieties and land management principles. 

Cotton on plants
Bale of cotton in a cotton field

Energy Use & Conservation

By adopting more efficient tools and management practices, e3 Sustainable Cotton growers reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 3,691 tons in 2022, or the equivalent of 18 railcars of coal2

Worker Health & Safety

e3 Sustainable Cotton farmers meet the demands of downstream buyers by producing cotton in ways that support workers’ welfare and their communities. 

Two men walking in front of a cotton bale
Hand picking cotton

Soil Carbon

73% of e3 Sustainable Cotton farmers incorporate practices like crop rotation, reduced tillage, and cover crops to build carbon in the soil, improve soil quality and limit carbon loss to the atmosphere. 

Identity Preservation

The unique environmental and social sustainability results for each bale of e3 cotton are matched to their Permanent Bale ID (PBI), guaranteeing its legitimacy and traceability. The PBI enables brands and retailers to know where their cotton came from and what went into growing it, enabling sustainability claims and linking positive-impact stories to specific farmers and communities. 

Multiple cotton bales in a field
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Stay Informed

Stem of Cotton

The Modern Cotton Story

Learn all about cotton sponsored by BASF’s e3 sustainable cotton program. Enjoy interviews and episodes hosted by BASF with key players in the cotton, textile, apparel and retail industries.

Connect on Social

@e3sustainablecotton

Learn More

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BASF’s e3 Sustainable Cotton Program Celebrates Record Grower Enrollment

More than 900 growers enrolled in the program by registering cotton bales from their 2021 growing season, a 25% increase in enrollment from the previous year.

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Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever are proud to announce BASF Agricultural Solutions as the organization’s newest national sponsor in the precision...

e3, FiberMax and Stoneville are registered trademarks of BASF Corporation. ©2023 BASF Corporation. All rights reserved.

1 Based on 2022 MyFarms data and calculations of the sustainability contributions of e3 Sustainable Cotton growers' production practices.

2 Conversion data from EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator: https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator.