You Can’t Sell Cotton Globally If You Can’t Prove Where It Came From

Traceability isn’t a branding exercise anymore—it’s a requirement to stay in business.

In this episode, Dan Patterson from Silverleafe explains why global cotton supply chains are under pressure to prove origin, labor conditions, and compliance—and why most of the industry still lacks visibility at the farm level. The problem isn’t tracking cotton through factories—it’s proving what happened before it even leaves the field.

He breaks down how legislation, economics, and outdated systems are colliding, why farmers are being asked to carry new costs they can’t afford, and what has to change for traceability to actually work at scale.