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.

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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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.

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Knowing where cotton comes from and how it’s grown is important. It’s a story we value at BASF and one we help e3 Sustainable Cotton farmers share. Let us help tell your “Grown in the USA” story. Talk to your local BASF Agronomic Solutions Advisor or complete the contact form, and we’ll contact you.

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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.