To a novice eye, the field Jeff Hux stands in would be worthy of Alabama ballads. It’s noticeably taller and thicker than many of the neighboring fields that wash the flat Missouri Bootheel in a surreal, fluffy white. But, to an experienced cotton producer like Hux, it’s a letdown year, one that despite his constant attention and his undying affection, just didn’t quite have all the necessary ingredients for perfection.  

And, despite cotton’s reputation as a fickle crop with flaky tendencies, he’ll just go out and love her harder next year. Cotton evokes a passion he just can’t escape.  

“We always make the joke that you have to treat cotton like a woman and cater to it, whatever it needs,” Hux said. “Some people talk about going out in their fields, and they talk to the plants, and they say it responds. It's a different crop, for sure. Cotton has to be in your blood to appreciate it.” 

Build it yourself  

Hux’s harvest process is perhaps the most telling testament to the innovative approach he makes to growing cotton. It works with a 6-man crew, plus Hux running interference, errands, tech support and acting as overall go-man.  

Two employees run pickers, two operate one-pass tools behind them and one moves the bales into the center of the field for easier pickup.  

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“See how smooth it runs?” Hux asked, as the full crew knocked out a 250-acre field in record time. The harvest operated with a visible Henry Ford-level precision. Even a bale wrap failure was addressed and overcome in quick order.  

Like the quality of the cotton, only a trained eye would pick up the subtle differences in the system. 

“He's got a contraption on the back that I actually helped design,” Hux said, pointing to a baby blue claw on the back of the bale-moving tractor. “At the time that the round bale pickers came out, we were looking for solutions for how we were going to get the round bales to the road.” 

Nothing the marketplace was offering felt like a good enough option, so Hux found a partner and got creative.  

“It's a hydraulic claw, that basically just captures the bale. It’s heavy duty and didn't go over very well,” Hux said. “I probably sold about 10 of them, and that's it. Not good, because they're super expensive to build.”  

Cotton pickers are one of the most significant investments a farmer can make. Running two pickers helps harvest happen with great efficiency. (Photo by Raney Rapp)

The bale grabber is a small detail in a myriad of tools and decisions that make Hux’s cotton process work, but it is characteristic of the critical thinking that makes Hux’s operation a standout in the U.S.  

If he wants the production on his farm to be done right, he’ll find a way to do it himself. 

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Emphasize advocacy  

All of the cotton on Hux’s Sikeston farm is Better Cotton Initiative, U.S. Cotton Protocol and Regenagri certified. The investment in sustainability and protocols comes, not just as a byproduct of Hux’s role as secretary for Cotton Inc., but from a foundational desire to secure the future of the cotton industry.  

“I believe in all those programs. Traceability is a particularly big deal,” Hux said. “We as producers, we're doing our job. Every time the picker wraps a bale, it knows that it's wrapped it. And there's a code that goes with that particular round bale. Once the cotton is ginned, it goes into a USDA certified bail, which is tagged, put into the warehouse, and then at the warehouse level, they can trace it all the way back to exactly what acre that cotton came off of.” 

For Hux, telling the story of U.S. cotton and the efforts for sustainability and traceability made by producers is intrinsically tied to the value and viability of the crop. Selling the story to end users is nearly as paramount as good yield. 

“The circularity issue that we're dealing with right now is kind of a silly one for me with cotton, because our story is that we're producing a natural fiber that's also biodegradable,” Hux said. “Our circularity is the fact that we plant it again next year, right? It's a strange world with all of the demands that are put on cotton, but we're happy to do it as producers.” 

Related:Francine, Helene damage limited in Bootheel cotton

Adapt and innovate  

Sustainability is not news to cotton producers. A fickle crop with an appetite for inputs requires careful management and attention to the soil over time. The difference is telling the story and tightening the details with technology, Hux said. 

“Brands and retailers want sustainability. So obviously, we've changed our practices tremendously, to lower our carbon footprint and to have a sustainable crop,” Hux said. “We've always practiced sustainable production, because if our land is not healthy, or the soil is not healthy, then we don't have good yields. Everything that they're asking us to do - we've been doing it anyway. The only difference, is now we have a lot more technology and access to information, so we're able to make better choices.” 

A one-pass tool sets the field up for a successful cotton crop in 2025. The turned earth and knocked under stalks are Hux’s favorite part of the harvest process. (Photo by Raney Rapp)

One of the sustainability practices Hux enjoys most is the final step in the harvest process – setting the seedbeds up for the next season.  

“This is called a one trip plow. It takes that whole stalk, cuts a groove in the bed, lays the stalk over, and buries it. And it’s my favorite part, even though the field does not look pretty now. It looks very ugly behind it, but when you plant that seed next year, there's no compaction in that bed, and that tap root is able to move down,” Hux said. “They're slow, they're expensive and all those things, but to me, it's totally worth it.”