Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative 

Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative (TOCMC) members were pioneers in the development of organic cotton production in the United States and founded the cooperative in 1993. TOCMC is headquartered in Lubbock, Texas, and most of its members are located in the surrounding South Plains area. 

This region of Texas, the heart of “the world’s largest cotton patch,” is well-suited to the production of organic cotton.  Winter temperatures are cold enough to limit insect pressure and provide a hard freeze to defoliate the cotton plants prior to mechanical harvest. In addition, a sunny climate and quick-drying soils facilitate timely weed control.

The cooperative has approximately 35 producer members who plant 17-20,000 acres of organic and transitional cotton each year.  In recent years, total annual production on these family farms has ranged from 7,000 to 17,000 bales. Since many of these farms have limited or no irrigation, yields are very rainfall dependent and vary significantly from year to year.

​

TOCMC and its members are certified organic under the United States Department of Agriculture National Organic Program (USDA-NOP), and TOCMC is also Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified.  Each bale of cotton marketed by TOCMC is tracked from the field to the customer.  Buyers can know the producer’s name and farm for each bale purchased.

TOCMC organic cotton is classed by USDA just like non-organic cotton.  The quality specifications assigned to each bale are used to pick the bales that best meet the requirements of each customer and TOCMC’s prices to customers are adjusted for quality.

The cooperative’s payments to its farmers are also based on quality, giving producers an incentive to grow the highest quality cotton possible. However, quality, like yield, is somewhat subject to weather conditions that are beyond the farmers’ control, resulting in year-to-year variations in quality.

TOCMC members grow other organic crops including peanuts, wheat, corn, milo, forage sorghum, soybeans, black-eyed peas, and sesame.  Also, the cottonseed, which is separated from the cotton fiber in the ginning process, is marketed to organic dairies for feed.