The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol has released its first results for U.S. Regen cotton, reporting lower greenhouse gas emissions intensity and soil loss across a pilot involving 33 growers.

Announced the Textile Exchange Conference in Vancouver on Thursday, the findings cover 59,094 harvested acres across 469 fields in seven U.S. cotton-growing states. They arrive alongside new rules allowing brands to identify U.S. Regen cotton content on products.

U.S. Regen is the Trust Protocol’s regenerative agriculture program for cotton grown in the United States. It began as the Field Partner Program pilot for the 2025 crop year, connecting participating growers with mills, apparel brands and retailers through bale-level verification and supply-chain traceability. In March, the Trust Protocol opened the program to broader commercial participation for the 2026 crop year.

“Growers are making long-term investments in the health and productivity of their farms, while also adapting regenerative practices to their unique growing region,” Marjory Walker, co-director of the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, said in the announcement. “U.S. Regen supports those efforts through a consistent framework that measures outcomes, verifies practices and provides traceability to the bale.”

The 2025/26 outcomes report puts greenhouse gas emissions at 1.73 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent per pound of cotton, compared with a baseline of 2.17 pounds—a 20 percent difference.

It also reports 30 percent more modeled soil carbon storage per pound of cotton and 75 percent lower annual soil loss per acre.

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