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“Fifty percent of the cotton gins that were in operation in 1998 have closed their doors, and once the gin closes, it’s closed for good.”
— Travis Mires, president, Plains Cotton Growers (Texas House testimony, 2025)
West Texas cotton is in crisis. Farmers are losing money on every pound they harvest. Gins are closing and not reopening. And the planting season ahead looks no better than the last three.Last week, a targeted crop insurance provision designed to address that crisis cleared its first legislative hurdle when the House Agriculture Committee advanced the 2026 Farm Bill on a 34-17 vote after...
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