About Us

After Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin in 1793, cottonseed actually became a problem: Some was plowed back into the soil … and only a small fraction was needed for planting … so the rest rotted as the mounds of cottonseed grew …

About the time of the Civil War, the cottonseed processing industry began to develop and by 1897, it was time for action. Businessmen from Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia and Texas met and formed The Interstate Cottonseed Crushers’ Association. In 1898, the group adopted a constitution, a set of by laws and 29 rules governing transactions of cottonseed products, forming a national cotton association that is the oldest cotton association still in existence.

Article I of the original constitution said the objective ” … shall be to protect and to promote the interests of the cottonseed industry, especially to enlarge markets for the sale of products, to the end that both the planter and the manufacturer shall be benefited.”  This objective is still the driving force of an association celebrating a century of success.

Though the name of the organization was changed to the National Cottonseed Products Association (NCPA) in 1929, that objective is still the driving force of this organization that is celebrating a century of success.

The organization changed its name to the National Cottonseed Products Association (NCPA) in 1929.  Today, the NCPA is an organization of firms and individuals engaged in the processing of cottonseed and the marketing of cottonseed products, as well as cottonseed. These include oil mills, dealers, brokers, refiners, commercial laboratories and many other businesses who derive their livelihood from the cottonseed industry.