Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative

The Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative (TOCMC) was founed in 1993 by a group of organic farmers certified by the Texas Department of Agrigulture. The cooperative currently represents approximately 25 organic cotton farmers who produce 4,000 - 5,000 bales of organic cotton each year. The majority of the producers in the cooperative live within a 150-mile radius of Lubbock, located on the High Plains of Texas, where winters are cold enough that insect pressures are lower than other areas and a hard freeze naturally defoliates the cotton plant prior to harvest. In addition to raw fiber, TOCMC members also sell the seed removed from the cotton lint to dairies for organic feed and, occasionally, the waste fiber from the ginning process (motes) for paper ( www.texasorganic.com )