Tag Archives: magnolia loom

Georgia Cotton, Georgia Threads: Magnolia Loom Helps Farmers Stitch a Future

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Pitts, GA |

Farming has never been easy—but for young producers trying to start from scratch, the odds can feel stacked against them. Equipment costs, input prices, and limited access to markets make it difficult to even get started. Just ask John Henry Roberts, a first-generation farmer in Pitts, Georgia.

“I’d say the hardest challenge is just getting into it to begin with,” said Roberts. “If it wasn’t for my boss right now, I wouldn’t have this opportunity. I mean, I’m like I said, I’m a first generation. The latest generation for me to farming was my great granddaddy. And that’s when everybody farmed.”

Roberts is doing what he can to change that narrative—and he’s not doing it alone. Thanks to a partnership with Magnolia Loom, a Georgia-based clothing company, Roberts has found new purpose and a better price for his cotton.

“A lot of things we have now are American grown, but they’re not American made,” Roberts explained. “So knowing that what Scott and Zeke and them are doing up there at Magnolia Loom—that they can take this cotton, keep it separated from mine…to a garment like this that I can touch with my own hands—it’s special.”

Magnolia Loom’s model offers producers like Roberts something rare in today’s cotton market: a price above market value.

“The Magnolia Loom mission is to give a dollar a bale, or twenty percent above market price, whichever is higher,” said Roberts. “Even if cotton market price goes to a dollar, they’re still going to pay you $1.20. What they’re doing is buying a little bit from lots of people, to make it truly Georgia grown.”

It’s a small portion of his total crop, but Roberts says the value goes beyond just economics—it’s about dignity, transparency, and pride.

That mission is resonating with other growers, like Clayton Anderson of Bulloch County, who says it’s refreshing to see a market-driven model that actually supports the people who grow the crop.

“Well, the bottom line is important because that’s what keeps us in business,” Anderson said. “A lot of farmers brag about top yields, but they may not be making money making that top yield. They have to put more inputs in.”

Anderson says it’s not just about the dollars and cents—it’s about the bigger picture.

“It’s a great opportunity, and every little bit helps,” he said. “They’re not buying my whole crop. But I appreciate whatever they can and whatever they’re doing to promote Georgia cotton. Magnolia Loom is doing their part to promote cotton, and I appreciate it. And all farmers do.”

By bringing attention—and better prices—to Georgia-grown cotton, Magnolia Loom is helping restore a direct connection between the field and the fabric. For young farmers like Roberts and Anderson, it’s a step toward making farming viable again—not just for them, but for the next generation.

By: John Holcomb

From Cotton Field to Closet: Magnolia Loom Builds Local Cotton Supply Chain in Georgia

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Sandersville, GA |

A Georgia company is closing the loop on cotton production—and making sure the benefits stay right here at home. Magnolia Loom, based in Sandersville, is turning locally grown cotton into t-shirts made and printed entirely in the Southeast, giving farmers a direct connection to the products their crops help create.

“I started Magnolia Loom in 2021, with an idea of taking Georgia cotton and turning it into t-shirts,” says Zeke Chapman, co-owner. “We really wanted to find a way to add value to it locally and be able to connect the cotton farmers across the state to an end product they could touch and feel and see and be able to wear.”

Since its founding, Magnolia Loom has worked to shorten the supply chain dramatically—from 1,500 miles across multiple states to just 750 miles mostly within Georgia. The company now controls nearly every step of the process, from fiber to fabric to final print.

“We knew we had to start small and piece things together,” Chapman says. “But now we’ve made huge strides in being able to do what we do. Not only does it improve quality control, it helps us get product to market faster.”

That shorter supply chain also means more value stays in the state—something Chapman is especially proud of. At live events like the Georgia National Fair and Sunbelt Ag Expo, more than 90 percent of the garment’s value remains in Georgia, helping them pay farmers more per pound than the market typically allows.

“Cotton prices are probably around sixty cents a pound right now. We’re paying a dollar,” says Chapman. “It’s huge for these growers because it helps them stay sustainable and make a profit.”

That commitment to local agriculture is shared by co-owner Torey Rose, who says the mission has always been about more than t-shirts.

“Our farmers oftentimes don’t see significance in what they’re doing,” she says. “They’re not paid accordingly to the hard work they put in. We want to show them we value it—by turning that cotton into something meaningful and paying them fairly for it.”

As the business grows, the owners hope to move even more of the manufacturing in-house—right in Sandersville—while proving that keeping production in the U.S. isn’t just viable, it’s vital.

By: John Holcomb

Seed to Shirt Exhibit Showcases Georgia’s Cotton Industry

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Perry, GA

Cotton is certainly big business here in Georgia and this new exhibit inside the Georgia Grown Building at the Georgia National Fair is aimed at making it even bigger by showcasing the value of cotton grown here in the state and hopefully benefitting those that produce it.

“One of the great things about Georgia agriculture, it’s the number one industry in the state, but it could be by far and away the number one industry if we could conceive of and develop ways to add value to Georgia agricultural products and retain more profit in the hands of those who produce it,” says David Bridges, Director of Georgia’s Rural Center. “We could have an even far greater impact in terms of employment, economic activity and whatever. So, Cotton’s a great example, a great example. We grow one of the best cottons in the world. We’re very good at it. But we have no capacity within the state to use that cotton.”

However, as Bridges explains, that has changed thanks to Zeke Chapman, Owner of Magnolia Loom – a company dedicated to producing shirts made of one hundred percent cotton that’s grown in Georgia.

“This is this exhibit is sort of an experiential embodiment of what has happened in the last few years. So, we have a young entrepreneur from rural Georgia, from Sandersville, who has taken it upon themselves to buy cotton from Georgia farmers and produce garments right here in the state that reflect the use of our products, adding value to Georgia cotton in a way that helps the farmer, helps this small upstart business created by a young entrepreneur from rural Georgia. It definitely helps economic development in that small town of Sandersville. So, that’s what this exhibit is about, is us demonstrating to the people who come through the fair that we can add value to Georgia agricultural products in a way that benefits everyone,” says Bridges.

According to Zeke, he hopes the exhibit will help with rejuvenating the textile industry here in the state, as he says one of his biggest challenges is the fact that not all of the parts of the shirt making process are done here in Georgia.

“Doing what we do isn’t easy,” says Magnolia Loom Owner, Zeke Chapman. “Finding the supply chain that we have has been really tough. Just learning the garment industry as a whole has been really hard to know that cotton is spun into yarn and then knit and then finished and then cut and sewn and garment dyed. There’s a lot of different steps and what we do and part of why we’re doing this is to bring that supply chain back to the state of Georgia. It was here years ago and our goal was to see that come back. Right now, our cotton’s grown in Georgia and our sewing is done in Georgia, and our goal is continue to move parts of that supply chain back to the state of Georgia.”

In the end however, the most important thing they hope to achieve is just making that connection to agriculture with anyone that comes to the fair by telling the important story of Georgia cotton.

“I think it’s important for individuals, especially those coming to the fair, to know what agriculture is about, where their food comes from, where their fiber comes from, where their shelter comes from. And this is an awesome opportunity for us to tell that story, that seed to shirt story of how cotton started and how it ends up in processing to the shirt that you have on your back,” says Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture, Tyler Harper.

By: John Holcomb