Cotton is the No. 3 agricultural product in Tennessee with an impact of more than 278 million in 2023 on the state economy. Experts predict this year to be even better. (Photo: Anne Braly)
For as long as he can remember, Josh Ogle has been farming cotton on the family farm, D&J River Farm, in Lincoln County near Flintville.
“It’s been a part of my life,” he says. “I grew up on a farm where my dad and two of his brothers farmed cotton, and I knew from an early age that I wanted to be a cotton farmer when I got older.”
Cotton was once king primarily in the southernmost regions of the southeast; however, Tennessee now wears the crown, with cotton the No. 3 agricultural product coming out of the Volunteer State, surpassed only by soybeans and corn.
And while the crop is still a major contributor to the economies of Mississippi, Alabama and other southern states, Tennessee is the only state expected to grow the number of acres planted with cotton, according to a report from cottongrower.com, a website that keeps its eye on the impact of the cotton industry on the American economy.