07/11/2026
Sixty years ago, cotton farming looked nothing like it does today.
On Carmack Family Farms and Daniels Farm,our first cotton picker harvested just one row at a time. There was no GPS. No yield maps. No auto-steer. No drones. No smartphones. And on our farm, there was no irrigation—every crop depended entirely on timely rainfall.
Every acre demanded long days, hard work, and a tremendous amount of faith.
Today, we plant improved cotton varieties, use precision agriculture, monitor fields with technology, and harvest with equipment that our grandparents could hardly have imagined. What once took days can now be accomplished in hours, and every decision is backed by more data than ever before.
Yet despite all the advances, one thing hasn’t changed.
A cotton farmer still plants a seed without any guarantee of what the season will bring. We still depend on sunshine, rain, and God’s provision. Technology has made us more efficient, but it hasn’t replaced the faith, resilience, and determination that farming has always required.
When I look at the photos of that first one-row cotton picker on Carmack Family Farms, I’m reminded that every generation builds on the sacrifices of the one before it. Their hard work made today’s opportunities possible.
At 5th Gen Cotton Co., that’s the story we’re proud to share—from our family’s fields in West Tennessee to the shirts we make. Because every piece of cotton has a story, and ours has been growing for generations.
I’d love to hear from other farm families. What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in agriculture over the years?
