Author
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Valco, Thomas |
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Submitted to: Cotton Farming
Publication Type: Popular Publication Publication Acceptance Date: 9/23/2009 Publication Date: 10/1/2009 Citation: Valco, T.D. 2009. Getting the Most Out of Your Gin - Improving Efficiency and Reducing Costs. Cotton Farming. October 2009, p15. Interpretive Summary: Evaluate both the quantity and quality of your gin’s output to make sure you are doing the most for your customer. Do only the drying and cleaning that are in the producer’s best interest and keep updated on the market needs and aim for those targets. Be sure that growers know the importance of harvesting the crop in the best possible condition so that cleaning stages can be bypassed. Technical Abstract: Striving for the highest quality or the most quantity is a dilemma ginners face throughout the season. There is a compromise between the amount of cleaning that can improve fiber value but can cause extra weight loss which can result in fewer dollars returned to the producer. A ginner must operate the gin to optimize its performance for the producer and be mindful of market demands for their customers, which is of course - the mill. It is important to keep in mind that the ginner can only hope to preserve the quality characteristics of the cotton or as some ginners might say, “you can’t make chicken salad out of chicken litter.” A ginner must do three things to maintain quality and quantity: 1) monitor and adjust moisture throughout the ginning process, 2) keep equipment properly adjusted and well maintained, and 3) follow recommended process speeds and capacity of your equipment. |
