RIPLEY, Tenn. – Two fifth-generation, west Tennessee families are continuing a cotton-growing tradition in their families that started in the late 1800s. They rely on cotton to keep their operations afloat. But several years ago, they developed a plan to market their crop directly to consumers, thus guaranteeing demand for their crop and keeping their families in the cotton business.

Jeffrey Daniels and Franklin Carmack have developed their own direct-to-consumer apparel line of T-shirts using the cotton they grow on their farms in Lauderdale County. They call their line of clothing 5th Gen Cotton Co.

Both men pondered about the future of their cotton farms, wondering what the future held for their farms and how best to make their cotton sustainable. The two brainstormed for many years about how to promote the cotton they produce.

They had numerous ideas for their cotton, but none panned out. Daniels even had thoughts of backing his truck up, throwing a bale of cotton in the back of his truck, taking it back home and filling pillowcases full of cotton. Carmack had similar ideas.

“You know, you go to the cotton field and you spend long lonesome hours on a cotton picker, daydreaming,” Carmack said. “You always wonder where your cotton is. My son and I had talked about it briefly off and on for a few years about how we ought to try to do something with our cotton. But that’s so far-fetched. You talk about it and then you just move on.”

The ball was beginning to roll and momentum was building. Both men knew someone who had connections with the textile industry. That person put them in contact with a manufacturer who started them on the right path in finding product with their cotton, one that was cut and sewn in the United States: T-shirts.

Discussions continued the next two seasons. Talk turned into action, as Carmack and Daniels made a call to the company that supplies their cottonseed to see if there was a variety they could grow that would have good quality, strength and fiber length for apparel. Through their local representative Andy Rowsey, Americot, Inc. showed interest in their project.

“They pitched their idea about using 5th Gen Cotton and I thought it was a fantastic idea,” Rowsey said. “Americot is a 100 percent, solely owned U.S. company. It is a leading cottonseed company. We now have a portfolio of products through NextGen varieties with fiber qualities and the traits that will work for the apparel that they’re trying to produce.”

Daniels and Carmack expressed the desire to ensure they could pass this venture along to future generations.

“Cotton is our passion,” said Carmack, who met Daniels through FFA in high school. “It’s a challenging crop, but it’s also very rewarding.”

Their venture is not without challenges. Weak demand and an oversupply of cotton have led to low prices and economic strain for producers. The pressure forced the two growers to reassess their business models.

“We changed the way our grandpas farmed, but we had not changed what they farmed or how they marketed it,” Carmack said.

The change involved expanding. That was needed to obtain a profit, so they began exploring multiple channels and strategies for selling their cotton, from fiber to finished product.

The change also involved travel. They started a road trip that took them into North Carolina, working their way through South Carolina and Georgia, contacting manufacturers and telling them about their project. Through their efforts they were able to secure a spinner, knitter and sewer to put together T-shirts using cotton they grew on their own operations. They were pulling their cotton to be spun and working with the manufacturers to make their shirts.

After harvest, North Carolina weavers spin, dye and weave 5th Gen Cotton fiber into fabric, Then, manufacturers in Georgia cut and sew the cotton fabric into the finished T-shirts.

Rowsey introduced the growers to Andy Holt, Tennessee Commissioner of Agriculture, and Mary Gammel, Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) business consultant for row crops and agriculture, at the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show in Memphis.

After much talk about their cotton and plans for T-shirts, Holt told Gammel that he wanted 5th Gen Cotton Co. shirts at the 2025 Wilson County-Tennessee State Fair.

TDA purchased 1,000 blank shirts and secured approval to feature both the official Tennessee America 250 celebration logo and a special-edition Pick Tennessee Products design. The Pick Tennessee Products Experience store sold the shirts during the Tennessee State Fair.

“We loved watching people pick up our shirts, feel the fabric and study the design,” Daniels said. “We’d walk over and explain that the shirt was produced here in Tennessee and made with West Tennessee cotton. It was a great feeling, and it gave us a lot of hope.”

Added Carmack, “Right now we’ve got T-shirts, but would like to have polos, denim and women’s clothing.”

They are also looking at different business models, including cooperating with other farmers, building their brand and once again helping to create a demand for U.S. cotton.

Despite their quick rise in popularity, the men emphasize that 5th Gen Cotton Co. is not a T-shirt company – it’s all about their cotton.

“You can’t keep sitting on your couch, wondering what you are going to do or waiting for someone to tell your story,” Carmack said. “We hope to grow into an apparel company, God willing, with jeans and hoodies, but it seemed like T-shirts were a good place to start,” Daniels said.

Cotton farming in Tennessee primarily occurs in the western and central regions, where the climate and soil conditions are favorable. The average yield per farm in the state is over 1,000 pounds per acre. The state produces 200,000-350,000 acres of cotton annually.

The top cotton-producing counties in Tennessee include Haywood, Crockett, Lauderdale, Fayette and Gibson, which together account for over 56 percent of the state’s cotton acreage.