Here at UO, we’re working on improving the way we do things for good. Every action counts, so one of the ways we’ve looked to progress is by partnering with Better Cotton – an organisation on a mission to help cotton communities survive and thrive while protecting and restoring the environment.
Deciding to go with Better Cotton is a gamechanger. We wanted to see everything in action and understand how Better Cotton goes from farm to thread, as well as how farmers have benefited from the programme, so we headed to Sanliurfa, Turkey to find out for ourselves. We chose Sanliurfa because it produces 40% of Turkey’s cotton, making it a key location to learn about. The local government here is working hard to improve the quality of life for its agricultural workers, and they also want to eliminate the development disparity between their region and others within Turkey.
Fun fact, they’re also known for farming red peppers and pistachios!
Better Cotton: Farm To Thread
Farms We Visited
Farm #1 - Karakucak
We drove from central Sanliurfa on the eastern side of Turkey out to the first farm in Karakucak with 120-hectares of land. This family-run Turkish farm was an early adopter of Better Cotton, joining the mission back in 2013. This place was farming cotton this year utilising the crop rotation method, which helps to keep the land healthy and fertile by returning nutrients to the soil without chemical input, increasing biodiversity.
We spoke to the farmer who shared some of the benefits of joining the programme who said that he’s found he now has more visibility over his costs, which allows for more accountability & clarity. He also said that the learnings from Better Cotton has helped his farm to invest in a more efficient sprinkler irrigation system, which saved approx 40% water usage vs. the previous method of furrow irrigation where a series of channels are dug into the field and water is fed down the channels.
Farm #2 - Guzelkoy
The second farm we visited was much smaller at only 16 hectares, but it was also family-run and they had been licensed Better Cotton farmers since 2016. For this farmer, the Better Cotton programme has helped him develop a deeper understanding of a lot of issues e.g. pesticide use… with the help of the field experts he has learnt more about what pesticides are necessary and how much to use, plus the reduced cost of pesticides has lowered costs allowing for more investment elsewhere. He was also spreading the word within his network, allowing Better Cotton’s mission to reach more of the industry.
We drove from central Sanliurfa on the eastern side of Turkey out to the first farm in Karakucak with 120-hectares of land. This family-run Turkish farm was an early adopter of Better Cotton, joining the mission back in 2013. This place was farming cotton this year utilising the crop rotation method, which helps to keep the land healthy and fertile by returning nutrients to the soil without chemical input, increasing biodiversity.
We spoke to the farmer who shared some of the benefits of joining the programme who said that he’s found he now has more visibility over his costs, which allows for more accountability & clarity. He also said that the learnings from Better Cotton has helped his farm to invest in a more efficient sprinkler irrigation system, which saved approx 40% water usage vs. the previous method of furrow irrigation where a series of channels are dug into the field and water is fed down the channels.
Farm #2 - Guzelkoy
The second farm we visited was much smaller at only 16 hectares, but it was also family-run and they had been licensed Better Cotton farmers since 2016. For this farmer, the Better Cotton programme has helped him develop a deeper understanding of a lot of issues e.g. pesticide use… with the help of the field experts he has learnt more about what pesticides are necessary and how much to use, plus the reduced cost of pesticides has lowered costs allowing for more investment elsewhere. He was also spreading the word within his network, allowing Better Cotton’s mission to reach more of the industry.
The Process
Harvesting
To start the process, the cotton needs to be farmed and picked. It comes from the farms in enormous bales before being scooped up by diggers and sent through the ginning system.
Ginning
To get cotton into a usable yarn it needs to be ginned first, which means it has to be cleaned. The cotton has to go through the ginning system six times to be cleaned, de-seeded and dried. After ginning the fibres, 39% of the cotton plant is usable, and the cotton is compacted into a one tonne bale of lint. The seeds are collected and used in one of three ways: they’re replanted, turned into cottonseed oil or go into paper production. Any other debris is collected for animal feed or used as biofuel.
Spinning
Once the cotton has been cleaned it is baled into what looks like lengths of cotton wool. It’s then stretched and intertwined to create a strong length of yarn in a mechanical process called spinning. Once the lengths of yarn are spun it is wrapped on a cone to be dyed or woven into fabric.
Visiting our partners across the world supports the continued learning of our supply chains and speaks to the programmes we’re directly investing in.
See more of the good stuff we’re doing on UO In Progress here.
To start the process, the cotton needs to be farmed and picked. It comes from the farms in enormous bales before being scooped up by diggers and sent through the ginning system.
Ginning
To get cotton into a usable yarn it needs to be ginned first, which means it has to be cleaned. The cotton has to go through the ginning system six times to be cleaned, de-seeded and dried. After ginning the fibres, 39% of the cotton plant is usable, and the cotton is compacted into a one tonne bale of lint. The seeds are collected and used in one of three ways: they’re replanted, turned into cottonseed oil or go into paper production. Any other debris is collected for animal feed or used as biofuel.
Spinning
Once the cotton has been cleaned it is baled into what looks like lengths of cotton wool. It’s then stretched and intertwined to create a strong length of yarn in a mechanical process called spinning. Once the lengths of yarn are spun it is wrapped on a cone to be dyed or woven into fabric.
Visiting our partners across the world supports the continued learning of our supply chains and speaks to the programmes we’re directly investing in.
See more of the good stuff we’re doing on UO In Progress here.