Based in Memphis, Tennessee, The Cotton Board is the oversight and administrative arm of the Cotton Research & Promotion Program, representing U.S. To fund the Program, The Cotton Board collects a per-bale assessment on all Upland cotton harvested and ginned in the U.S., as well as an importer assessment on all Upland cotton products imported into the U.S. To conduct the Program, the Cotton Board contracts with Cotton Incorporated to carryout the actual research and promotion activities for U.S. Beginning as a self-help program in the mid-1960s, the Cotton Research & Promotion Program was organized by U.S. Upland cotton producers in response to cotton’s steady decline in market share. Producers voted to set up a per-bale assessment system to fund the Program, with built-in safeguards to protect their investments. With passage of the Cotton Research & Promotion Act of 1966, the Program began battling synthetic competitors and re-establishing markets for cotton. Today, the success of this Program has made cotton the best selling fiber in the U.S. and one of the best selling fibers in the world.
