Communications

he National Cotton Council devoted considerable effort to defending the 2002 farm law against critics that ranged from U.S. Congressional members to international charity organizations. Most of the criticism in Congress came from those who wanted to see more restrictive payment limits. Editorials in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times were rebutted. The Times finally published a NCC letter to the editor in response to an October Times’ editorial that called for an end to farm program payments.

West Tennessee cotton producer John Lindamood was interviewed by several European television journalists who did stories about the U.S. cotton program.

The NCC was inundated with requests from foreign journalists wanting to talk to U.S. cotton producers and the NCC about U.S. agricultural subsidies’ effects on world cotton prices and the alleged harm they cause some West African cotton-producing countries.

Outlets the NCC interacted with included: the Tribune, a French newspaper; The Guardian, a London newspaper; Irish National Television; Swiss National Public Radio and Swiss National Television; the Canadian Broadcast Company; “France 3” public television station; the French National Television; and the Dutch Public Broadcasting Service.

Late in the year, the Environmental Working Group released a list of firms receiving Step 2 payments. The NCC responded to calls from national media such as The New York Times and Chicago Tribune, and placed response points with merchant, cooperative and textile sector leaders across the Cotton Belt to help them communicate with writers and broadcasters. 

On behalf of the NCC and National Cotton Women’s Committee, Cotton Foundation President Larkin Martin, left, presents the 2004 U.S. Cotton Champion Award to Lauren Cooke of the J. Jill Group, a Quincy, MA, clothing retailer.

The NCC communicated to its members and key publics on a range of issues from China’s failure to implement tariff rate quotas for raw cotton to a domestic bale weight education program. The NCC’s web site, www.cotton.org, is being used increasingly to communicate to members and key publics, including the posting of the NCC’s Cotton’s Week newsletter and weekly AgDay segment, radio/newslines and Cotton eNews. A score of other information also is being posted ranging from Action Alerts and NCC letters to Congress to counter cyclical payment fact sheets and bale moisture recommendations.

Efforts to reach consumers about U.S. cotton’s contributions to this nation were escalated through the NCC’s “Cotton Counts” education campaign, which is being carried out primarily by the National Cotton Women’s Committee. The NCC also coalesced with the National Wheat Growers Association and its new “Home Grown” outreach program. That effort is designed to enlighten the public about how farmers and farming have changed from what many consumers still perceive. Both campaigns convey the message that U.S. farmers provide safe, bountiful and affordable food and fiber.