Armbrust American founder and Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Armbrust helps prepare packages for shipping at his company warehouse in Pflugerville, Texas, U.S., January 12, 2022. He said he is shipping an average of 250,000 masks per day now. REUTERS/Nuri Vallbona 

Sue Nguyen, an operator for Armbrust American, prepares masks for shipping at the company's warehouse in Pflugerville, Texas, U.S., January 12, 2022. REUTERS/Nuri Vallbona 

Sue Nguyen, an operator for Armbrust American, prepares masks for shipping at the company's warehouse in Pflugerville, Texas, U.S., January 12, 2022. REUTERS/Nuri Vallbona 

An American Apparel store logo is pictured on a building along the Lincoln Road Mall in Miami Beach, Florida March 17, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri 

An American Apparel store logo is pictured on a building along the Lincoln Road Mall in Miami Beach, Florida March 17, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri 

A cemetery sits across from a cotton field in Vienna, Georgia October 27, 2015. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Ronnie Lee, owner of McClesky Cotton, stands next to bales of cotton stored in a warehouse after being processed at his gin in Bronwood, Georgia October 27, 2015. Ronnie Lee farms 9,000 acres, of which about 5,500 acres are cotton. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

The former tenant home of cook Bessie Baskar stands on the farm of Shep Morris in Shorter, Alabama October 26, 2015. A portion of the land farmed by Shep Morris was once part of the Walker Planation, owned by his wife's ancestors in the antebellum South. Morris describes the decaying tenant homes of former farm employees as "scattered throughout the cotton belt and slowly fading away." REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Farmer Harold Gaines presses a module of picked cotton in one of his fields in Autaugaville, Alabama October 26, 2015. Gaines farms 2,000 acres of cotton, peanuts, cattle and a small mount of grain. Gaines says, "I have never personally picked by hand. I was too little to drag the sack. My sister did it. I helped empty the sacks. I have gone from picking one row at a time, then it was two and we thought it could never get any better than this. This year we moved to a six-row picker." REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

An empty and decaying house sits at the edge of a cotton field in Bronwood, Georgia October 27, 2015. Cotton farmer Shep Morris describes the decaying tenant homes of former farm employees as "scattered throughout the cotton belt and slowly fading away." REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

A truck delivers round modules of cotton to be ginned at the farmer-owned Milstead Farm Group gin in Shorter, Alabama October 26, 2015. The gin produces one bale every one minute and fifty seconds. The most modern cotton pickers produce round modules. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Shep Morris, president of the farmer-owned Milstead Farm Group gin, is reflected in his iPad as he monitors production at the gin in Shorter, Alabama October 26, 2015. The gin produces one bale every one minute and fifty seconds. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Shreds of wallpaper cling to the wall in an abandoned and decaying tenant farmer's, or sharecropper's, house in Moundville, Alabama October 25, 2015. RCotton farmer Shep Morris describes the decaying tenant homes of former farm employees as "scattered throughout the cotton belt and slowly fading away." REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Trees surround an abandoned and decaying tenant farmer's, or sharecropper's, house in Moundville, Alabama October 25, 2015. Cotton farmer Shep Morris describes the decaying tenant homes of former farm employees as "scattered throughout the cotton belt and slowly fading away." REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

A car passes a field of cotton in Autaugaville, Alabama October 26, 2015. The Autauga Quality Cotton Association, with 400 members between growers and landlords, had their biggest year in 2007 when they produced 462 thousand bales of cotton, compared to150 thousand bales this year. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

A field of cotton waiting to be harvested sits next to a house in Clarksdale, Mississippi October 24, 2015. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

A run-down shack sits at Strike City in Leland, Mississippi October 24, 2015. According to news reports and historians, in June 1965 African-American workers from the nearby Andrew Planation went on strike and took refuge in what came to be known as Strike City, where they were joined by other workers from other plantations. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Trees grow around an abandoned church in Akron, Alabama October 25, 2015. Headstones in the church's cemetery indicate that it was in use while tenant farming and sharecropping was practiced widely in the immediate area. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Farm worker Leon Strickland sits outside his home in Tunica, Mississippi October 24, 2015. Strickland picked cotton by hand as a child and has worked for the same family of farmers since 1965. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Area Director Byron Cole demonstrates the staple length of a sample of cotton at the USDA cotton classing lab in Memphis, Tennessee October 24, 2015. The USDA classes nearly all of the cotton produced in the United States. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Workers class samples of cotton at the USDA cotton classing lab in Memphis, Tennessee October 24, 2015. The USDA classes nearly all of the cotton produced in the United States. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Roxanne Coalter examines a sample of cotton for external matter at the USDA cotton classing lab in Memphis, Tennessee October 24, 2015. Coalter has classed cotton at the USDA for 62 years. Virtually every bale of cotton produced in the U.S. is classed by the USDA for its quality. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Farm worker Leon Strickland sits outside his home in Tunica, Mississippi October 24, 2015. Strickland picked cotton by hand as a child and has worked for the same family of farmers since 1965. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Cotton waiting to be picked sits in a field in Florence, Alabama October 23, 2015. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Cotton waiting to be picked sits in a field around a home in Florence, Alabama October 23, 2015. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Calvin Turley, a cash cotton merchant, points to samples of cotton he is trying to sell from his office above the original Memphis cotton exchange in Memphis, Tennessee October 23, 2015. "The Exchange was a place, a set of rules, and a de facto social institution," said Turley, one of a handful of hold-outs that still work in offices in the old Memphis exchange building. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Farmer Lawrence Smith makes a module of picked cotton during the harvest on his farm in Florence, Alabama October 23, 2015. Lawrence Smith is a second generation cotton farmer and his son Ryan works with him on the harvest. Lawrence Smith, says "As long as I'm healthy, I'll farm." REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Ryan Smith walks among the cotton plants during the harvest in Florence, Alabama October 23, 2015. Lawrence Smith is a second generation cotton farmer and his son Ryan works with him on the harvest. Lawrence Smith, says "As long as I'm healthy, I'll farm." REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Cotton waiting to be picked sits in a field in Florence, Alabama October 23, 2015. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Farmer Lawrence Smith watches the cotton being dumped from a picker during the harvest in Florence, Alabama October 23, 2015. Lawrence Smith is a second generation cotton farmer and his son Ryan works with him on the harvest. Smith, says "As long as I'm healthy, I'll farm." REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Farmer Lawrence Smith stands among his cotton plants during the harvest in Florence, Alabama October 23, 2015. Lawrence Smith is a second generation cotton farmer and his son Ryan works with him on the harvest. Smith, says "As long as I'm healthy, I'll farm." REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Ryan Smith drives a picker harvesting cotton planted by his father Lawrence in Florence, Alabama October 23, 2015. Lawrence Smith is a second generation cotton farmer and his son Ryan works with him on the harvest. Lawrence Smith, says "As long as I'm healthy, I'll farm." REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Cotton planted by farmer Lawrence Smith is harvested in Florence, Alabama October 23, 2015. Lawrence Smith is a second generation cotton farmer and his son Ryan works with him on the harvest. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Ryan Smith drives a picker harvesting cotton planted by his father Lawrence in Florence, Alabama October 23, 2015. Lawrence Smith is a second generation cotton farmer and his son Ryan works with him on the harvest. Lawrence Smith, says "As long as I'm healthy, I'll farm." REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Farmhand Alex Ragland watches cotton being dumped from a picker during the harvest in Florence, Alabama October 23, 2015. Ragland has worked as a farmhand for farmer Lawrence Smith for over 30 years. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Cotton planted by farmer Lawrence Smith is harvested in Florence, Alabama October 23, 2015. Lawrence Smith is a second generation cotton farmer and his son Ryan works with him on the harvest. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Cotton planted by farmer Lawrence Smith is harvested in Florence, Alabama October 23, 2015. Lawrence Smith is a second generation cotton farmer and his son Ryan works with him on the harvest. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Cotton planted by farmer Lawrence Smith is harvested in Florence, Alabama October 23, 2015. Lawrence Smith is a second generation cotton farmer and his son Ryan works with him on the harvest. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

A field of unharvested cotton sits outside the Oakland Gin Company in Florence, Alabama October 23, 2015. The gin can produce one bale of cotton every three minutes. A century and a half since the end of the U.S. Civil War, King Cotton has ceded its throne to synthetic fibers and the government support program has been gutted, the number of cotton gins - the invention that transformed the South's economy - are at an all-time low and the textile industry that was once the lifeblood of the region's industrial life has long since left for Asian and Central American shores. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

The sun sets behind what remains of the Forks of Cypress plantation house in Florence, Alabama October 22, 2015. According to a historical marker at the site, "The Forks of Cypress plantation was established in 1818 by James and Sarah Jackson. Built by skilled African American artisans in slavery, the Forks stood until June 6, 1966, when it was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. Its surrounding brick porch with twenty three brick columns remain." REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

The sun sets behind what remains of the Forks of Cypress plantation house in Florence, Alabama October 22, 2015. According to a historical marker at the site, "The Forks of Cypress plantation was established in 1818 by James and Sarah Jackson. Built by skilled African American artisans in slavery, the Forks stood until June 6, 1966, when it was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. Its surrounding brick porch with twenty three brick columns remain." REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Workers remove a bale of cotton from the gin at the Oakland Gin Company in Florence, Alabama October 23, 2015. The gin can produce one bale of cotton every three minutes. A century and a half since the end of the U.S. Civil War, King Cotton has ceded its throne to synthetic fibers and the government support program has been gutted, the number of cotton gins - the invention that transformed the South's economy - are at an all-time low and the textile industry that was once the lifeblood of the region's industrial life has long since left for Asian and Central American shores. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Terry Wylie, founder of Tee Jays Manufacturing Company, a t-shirt manufacturer, talks about the now-closed company in Florence, Alabama October 23, 2015. The cotton clothing company Alabama Chanin now occupies one of the Tee Jays buildings, which at its height employed 2500 people. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

A truck carrying a module of recently harvest cotton waits at the Oakland Gin Company in Florence, Alabama October 23, 2015. The gin can produce one bale of cotton every three minutes. A century and a half since the end of the U.S. Civil War, King Cotton has ceded its throne to synthetic fibers and the government support program has been gutted, the number of cotton gins - the invention that transformed the South's economy - are at an all-time low and the textile industry that was once the lifeblood of the region's industrial life has long since left for Asian and Central American shores. REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

The word "Hosiery" remains on the wall of a shut-down knitting facility in Fort Payne, Alabama October 22, 2015. Most of the manufacturers are now closed in Fort Payne, which was once called the "Sock Capital of the World." REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

A driver passes the sign for a sock store in Fort Payne, Alabama October 22, 2015. Most of the manufacturers are now closed in Fort Payne, which was once known as the "Sock Capital of the World." REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Gary Hulslander re-threads an automatic sock knitting machine at Shankel's Hosiery in Fort Payne, Alabama October 22, 2015. Shankel's is one of the few remaining producers of socks in Fort Payne, which was once known as the "Sock Capital of the World." Owner Alan Shankel says "We haven't made money in 7 years, we just break even." REUTERS/Brian Snyder 

Cotton planted by farmer Lawrence Smith is harvested in Florence, Alabama October 23, 2015. Lawrence Smith is a second generation cotton farmer and his son Ryan works with him on the harvest. Fields along the Mississippi River Delta once gleamed white in the autumn with acre upon acre of cotton ready to be picked. This year U.S. farmers planted the fewest acres of cotton since 1983, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. REUTERS/Brian Snyder PICTURE 10 OF 28 FOR WIDER IMAGE STORY "THE LEGACY OF 'KING COTTON' IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH" SEARCH "KING COTTON" FOR ALL IMAGES 

"KKK" and a swastika are painted on an abandoned and decaying tenant farmer's, or sharecropper's, house in Moundville, Alabama October 25, 2015. Cotton farmer Shep Morris describes the decaying tenant homes of former farm employees as "scattered throughout the cotton belt and slowly fading away." Fields along the Mississippi River Delta once gleamed white in the autumn with acre upon acre of cotton ready to be picked. This year U.S. farmers planted the fewest acres of cotton since 1983, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. REUTERS/Brian Snyder PICTURE 4 OF 28 FOR WIDER IMAGE STORY "THE LEGACY OF 'KING COTTON' IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH" SEARCH "KING COTTON" FOR ALL IMAGES 

A "For Sale" sign covers the gate to a cotton field in Adrian, Georgia October 28, 2015. In the southern states of Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama and Arkansas, once the heart of cotton country, growers expect to harvest some of their smallest crops since the year after the U.S. Civil War ended, according to the oldest government data available. REUTERS/Brian Snyder PICTURE 28 OF 28 FOR WIDER IMAGE STORY "THE LEGACY OF 'KING COTTON' IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH" SEARCH "KING COTTON" FOR ALL IMAGES 

Farm worker Leon Strickland sits outside his home in Tunica, Mississippi October 24, 2015. Strickland picked cotton by hand as a child and has worked for the same family of farmers since 1965. Fields along the Mississippi River Delta once gleamed white in the autumn with acre upon acre of cotton ready to be picked. This year U.S. farmers planted the fewest acres of cotton since 1983, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. REUTERS/Brian Snyder TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY PICTURE 8 OF 28 FOR WIDER IMAGE STORY "THE LEGACY OF 'KING COTTON' IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH" SEARCH "KING COTTON" FOR ALL IMAGES 

Cotton farmer Shep Morris points to a photograph of the Walker Plantation house, which was owned by his wife's ancestors, in Shorter, Alabama October 26, 2015. part of the Morris farm was once part of the Walker Plantation. In the southern states of Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama and Arkansas, once the heart of cotton country, growers expect to harvest some of their smallest crops since the year after the U.S. Civil War ended, according to the oldest government data available. REUTERS/Brian Snyder PICTURE 7 OF 28 FOR WIDER IMAGE STORY "THE LEGACY OF 'KING COTTON' IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH" SEARCH "KING COTTON" FOR ALL IMAGES 

Sunlight hits graves in the family cemetery on the Morris farm in Shorter, Alabama October 26, 2015. The cemetery and surrounding field were once part of the Walker Planation, which was owned by Marguerite Morris' ancestors in the antebellum South. Fields along the Mississippi River Delta once gleamed white in the autumn with acre upon acre of cotton ready to be picked. This year U.S. farmers planted the fewest acres of cotton since 1983, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. REUTERS/Brian Snyder PICTURE 5 OF 28 FOR WIDER IMAGE STORY "THE LEGACY OF 'KING COTTON' IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH" SEARCH "KING COTTON" FOR ALL IMAGES 

Trees frame the former plantation house known as Boligee Hill or Myrtle Hill, built in 1840 by John David Means, in Boligee, Alabama October 25, 2015. According to the National Register of Historic places Means owned 110 slaves in 1850. In the southern states of Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama and Arkansas, once the heart of cotton country, growers expect to harvest some of their smallest crops since the year after the U.S. Civil War ended, according to the oldest government data available. REUTERS/Brian Snyder PICTURE 6 OF 28 FOR WIDER IMAGE STORY "THE LEGACY OF 'KING COTTON' IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH" SEARCH "KING COTTON" FOR ALL IMAGES 

Farmer Michael Shelton (R) stands amid his farm equipment in Clarksdale, Mississippi October 24, 2015. Michael Shelton is a third generation farmer, tracing his roots back to his grandparents who bought 40 acres of farm land in the late 1800s, after the end of the U.S. Civil War. When asked about slavery, Shelton says, “No, we don’t talk about it. I remind my daughters the times haven’t been like this always. We haven’t always been free. I’m sure they understand it and know it." REUTERS/Brian Snyder PICTURE 11 OF 28 FOR WIDER IMAGE STORY "THE LEGACY OF 'KING COTTON' IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH" SEARCH "KING COTTON" FOR ALL IMAGES 

Jeff Thompson, a manager at the Autauga Quality Cotton Association, looks at his mobile phone next to a pile of cotton seeds at the farmer-owned Milstead Farm Group gin in Shorter, Alabama October 26, 2015. The gin produces one bale every one minute and fifty seconds. REUTERS/Brian Snyder PICTURE 14 OF 28 FOR WIDER IMAGE STORY "THE LEGACY OF 'KING COTTON' IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH" SEARCH "KING COTTON" FOR ALL IMAGES 

A partially picked field of cotton is reflected in the window of the cab of a mechanical picker operated by nineteen year-old Reese Foster at Lee Farm in Bronwood, Georgia October 27, 2015. When Reese is not attending college, he works for Ronnie Lee, who farms 9,000 acres, of which about 5,500 acres are cotton. REUTERS/Brian Snyder PICTURE 12 OF 28 FOR WIDER IMAGE STORY "THE LEGACY OF 'KING COTTON' IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH" SEARCH "KING COTTON" FOR ALL IMAGES 

Cotton grows in a field around a home in Florence, Alabama October 23, 2015. Fields along the Mississippi River Delta once gleamed white in the autumn with acre upon acre of cotton ready to be picked. This year U.S. farmers planted the fewest acres of cotton since 1983, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. REUTERS/Brian Snyder PICTURE 9 OF 28 FOR WIDER IMAGE STORY "THE LEGACY OF 'KING COTTON' IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH" SEARCH "KING COTTON" FOR ALL IMAGES 

Cotton sticks to the side of a cart at the Oakland Gin Company in Florence, Alabama October 23, 2015. The gin can produce one bale of cotton every three minutes. Cotton has struggled to recover demand lost amid price spikes in 2008, 2010, and 2011, which drove consumers towards clothes made of other fibers, such as polyester and nylon. REUTERS/Brian Snyder PICTURE 13 OF 28 FOR WIDER IMAGE STORY "THE LEGACY OF 'KING COTTON' IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH" SEARCH "KING COTTON" FOR ALL IMAGES 

Gary Hulslander walks between automatic sock knitting machines at Shankel's Hosiery manufacturing facility in Fort Payne, Alabama October 22, 2015. Shankel's is one of the few remaining producers of socks in Fort Payne, which was once known by some as the "Sock Capital of the World." Owner Alan Shankel says "We haven’t made money in seven years, we just break even." REUTERS/Brian Snyder PICTURE 16 OF 28 FOR WIDER IMAGE STORY "THE LEGACY OF 'KING COTTON' IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH" SEARCH "KING COTTON" FOR ALL IMAGES