Public Attitudes
The National Cotton Council consistently conveyed the industry’s positions and concerns to Congressional Members and key government agency officials regarding critical legislative, trade, regulatory and environmental matters. For example, NCC President/CEO Gary Adams noted the NCC’s disappointment with the cottonseed policy omission in the appropriations bill -- in an Op-Ed that appeared in The Hill, a D.C.-based newspaper/website that covers Congress.
The NCC issued a news release in which it applauded President Trump’s issuance of a National Agriculture Day (March 21) proclamation that stated, “America's farmers and ranchers help feed the world, fuel our nation's economy, and lead global markets in output and productivity.”
The NCC utilized social media across Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, podcasts via YouTube and Instagram. The posts highlighted news and information from the NCC, Cotton Council International and the U.S. cotton industry. The overall goal is informing, educating and creating positive perceptions regarding the NCC and the industry among the NCC's primary audiences of its members, Congress/Congressional staffers and consumers.
The NCC continued as an in-kind supporter of America’s Heartland, the award-winning national television series celebrating American agriculture. The series, in its 14th season and aired on public television and the RFD-TV cable and satellite channel, educates consumers about the origins of their food, fuel and fiber.
The NCC continued to participate in Farm Policy Facts (FPF) (http://www.farmpolicyfacts.org/). The FPF and “The Hand That Feeds Us” initiatives are committed to ensuring American agriculture’s long-term success by facilitating meaningful conversations with legislators and consumers about how food and fiber is produced.
Information Services
The NCC’s newly designed website,, was aimed at bringing new information to NCC members and other interested groups and helping NCC members more easily navigate the site’s pages containing that material. The redesign, which retained the major categories of About, Economics, Education, Issues, Technical and News & Events, features feeds from the NCC social media channels, a Member Spotlight, enhanced audio and visual capabilities, as well as interactive maps.
The NCC continued to utilize other key communications vehicles such as its Cotton’s Week newsletter, radio news lines, videos and columns in various trade publications for disseminating key information to its members. That ranged from relaying details on USDA’s Cotton Ginning Cost-Share program and NCC’s actions on seeking cottonseed assistance to industry members’ needed diligence on contamination prevention.
Weekly RFD-TV segments highlighting issues important to the industry continued to be produced. Video offerings also included monthly segments for Cotton International’s web podcast series on various economic topics, several gin safety and handling videos, as well as various Ag Day segments on key news topics. Updates were begun on NCC educational videos covering gin safety and contamination prevention
The NCC also provided comprehensive communications support for multiple NCC-coordinated Cotton Foundation special projects. Among those were the Emerging Leaders, Multi Commodity Education, Policy Education and Producer Information Exchange programs.