U.S. cotton growers face stiff competition with man-made fibers and foreign grown cotton in both domestic and foreign markets. We must compete not only in unit production costs but also in the quality of the cotton we market. Steps for quality improvement are 1) Identification of the specific fiber characteristics required for improved processing in the mill; 2) Development of instrumentation which will enable breeders and agronomists to rapidly and economically measure these traits in their research; and 3) Implementation of a marketing system which will provide consistent economic incentives to growers to produce cotton with qualities desired by the mills.