The U.S. cotton industry is enjoying a healthy return on investment from Foundation member support of general projects and special projects. National Cotton Council staff estimates that accounting for cash and in-kind services, the Foundation’s general projects, for example, enjoy a return of about $3 for every dollar devoted to these projects. By supporting these projects, the Foundation is truly fostering innovative: 1) research to find solutions to cotton problems; 2) technology to implement those solutions; 3) education to speed new research application and 4) communication to spread information throughout cotton's production and marketing chain.
Request for Proposals
The Cotton Foundation is actively seeking research proposals for funding during the 2027 growing season. Research proposals can encompass any subject, ranging from the production of raw fiber to finished textiles. Proposals are due July 1, 2026. You will find below a PDF containing additional information and directions for submitting research proposals as well as a PDF containing a priority list of research and education topics.
Click here to download the Request for Proposals.
Click here to download the Research and Education Priorities list.
General Projects 2025-2026
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A new general project is support U.S. cotton sustainability efforts, including such practices as this no-till cultivation. |
- Journal of Cotton Science
- Cotton Pest Loss Survey
- Enhancing Cotton Industry Education and Information through the National Cotton Council Web Site
- Information and Research on Potential Consumer, Environmental and Workplace Risks
- FOV4: Threat to Upland Cotton Production
- Pest Management Strategic Plan
- Don Parker Memorial Scholarship Initiative
- Refining Cotton Maturity and Target Development Curve for the Southern High Plains
- Effects of Proposed Field Border Pesticide Drift and Runoff Mitigations on Tarnished Plant Bug Infestations in Cotton
- Comparison of Conventional Pesticide Application and Inverted Lay-By Drop Nozzles for Control of Damaging Pests in Mid-South Cotton
- Investigation of "Crazy Cotton" Observed in Mid-South Cotton Production
- In-Field Screening of Commercial Cotton Varieties for Susceptibility to Bronze Wilt Symptoms
- Evaluating Cotton Varieties for Plant Health Under Disease and Nematode Pressure in Large-Plot, On-Farm Trials
- Advancing North Carolina's Cotton Insect IPM System
- Enhanding IPM in Mid-South Cotton: Integrating Beneficial Insects and Insecticide Resistance Insights for Tarnished Plant Bug Management
- Developing a Rapid Identification and Sight-Specific Management Workflow for Drone Applications on Two-Spotted Spider Mite
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| Lloyd Arthur, a Ralls, TX, cotton producer, briefs Mid-South and Southeast cotton producers on High Plains water issues as part of the 2022 Producer Information Exchange program. |
Special Projects 2025-2026
Cotton Nematode & Seedling Disease Research & Education
Bayer
Emering Leaders Program
Bayer
Producer Information Exchange
BASF
Multi-Commodity Education Program
Deere & Company
Dunavant Policy Advocacy Program
Dunavant Foundation
Cotton Weed Science Conference
AMVAC, BASF, Bayer, FMC, Syngenta
Educational Outreach
Bayer, FMC, Syngenta, Corteva, Valent
Ongoing Special Project Contributions
Several Foundation members support the NCC-coordinated Beltwide Cotton Conferences - helping the NCC produce a quality conference with modest attendee registration fees. The BWCC continue to strengthen collaboration of cotton research across crop consultant associations, state universities, federal institutions, and allied industries as well as providing agricultural students an opportunity to become engaged with prospective employers.
The Foundation continues to distribute volumes in its Cotton Reference Book Series, which can be ordered online. The series includes Weeds of Cotton, Cotton Harvest Management, Stress Physiology in Cotton, Flowering and Fruiting in Cotton, Linking Physiology to Management and Boll Weevil Eradication in the United States Through 1999. The Cotton Foundation series reference books can be purchased from the Foundation at https://www.cotton.org/foundation/ref-books.cfm.
Some other efforts helpful to cotton's overall research and education effort include the periodic development and distribution of various NCC-produced educational videotapes. The Gin Lab Symposium, sponsored by Delta and Pine Land, Syngenta, and Bayer, aids in familiarizing state land grants extension specialists with post-harvest processes of ginning and textiles to improve appreciation of end user needs.
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These 2025 High Cotton recipients and previous years’ winners, represent the four major Cotton Belt regions – Southeast, Mid-South, Southwest and West. |
Awards and Endowments 2025-2026
High Cotton Awards
Farm Progress Publications
Robert and Lois Coker Trustees Chair in Molecular Genetics
Endowment: $1,000,000
The C. Everette Salyer Fellowship in Cotton Research is administered by Texas A&M University's Entomology Department which provides more details and a list of previous winners on its website.
Endowment: $300,000
Cottonseed Oil Clinic
Endowment: $60,000
One of Our Many Members
COTTON GROWER and COTTON INTERNATIONAL are the flagship publications of Meister Media Worldwide's Cotton Media Group, the world's largest provider of cotton information. Other Meister Media Worldwide products, services and events for the cotton community include COTTON GROWER PLUS targeted reports; CI WORLD REPORT, serving the global cotton chain "from boll to bobbin"; the COTTON GROWER / National Cotton Council "Millennium Grant"; the annual "Cotton Achievement Award"; the COTTON GROWER / NYBOT "Cotton Marketer of the Year Award; the Cotton International Hall of Fame; and the yearly COTTON GROWER "Beltwide Luncheon."