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ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Cotton Structure and Quality Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #356515
Research Project: Improved Quality Assessments of Cotton from Fiber to Final Products

Location: Cotton Structure and Quality Research

Title: Effects of harvesting and ginning practices on Southern High Plains cotton: Textile quality

Author
item Delhom, Christopher - Chris
item INDEST, MATTHEW - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE)
item Wanjura, John
item Armijo, Carlos
item BOWMAN, RANDAL - Oklahoma State University
item FAULKNER, WILLIAM - Texas A&M University
item Holt, Gregory
item Pelletier, Mathew

Submitted to: Textile Research Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/3/2019
Publication Date: 8/29/2019
Citation: Delhom, C.D., Indest, M.O., Wanjura, J.D., Armijo, C.B., Bowman, R.K., Faulkner, W.B., Holt, G.A., Pelletier, M.G. 2019. Effects of harvesting and ginning practices on Southern High Plains cotton: Textile quality. Textile Research Journal. 90(5-6):537-546. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040517519871942.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0040517519871942

Interpretive Summary: The Southern High Plains is the largest cotton producing region of the United States. Changes in the cotton industry have led to changes in the ways in which cotton is harvested and ginned. The changes in cotton production practices may have an impact on textile quality. A multi-year study was conducted to examine the influence of two harvesting methods, stripper and spindle picker, and two ginning methods, saw and high-speed roller, on textile processing efficiency and product quality. Three types of yarn were produced in the study to represent the various end-uses of US cotton: rotor, ring, and combed ring. Rotor-spun yarns showed no difference in quality while ring-spun yarns were impacted by production practices. Combing to produce combed ring-spun yarns was able to eliminate any functional differences in quality due to pre-mill handling of the cotton. Cottons produced with high-speed roller ginning were able to be spun at higher production rates.

Technical Abstract: The impact of harvesting method, as well as ginning method (saw or high-speed roller ginning), on textile quality was studied over three years of cotton production in the Southern High Plains. The Southern High Plains region is the largest cotton production area of the United States. The Southern High Plains and the Texas Gulf Coast are the only areas of the United States where brush-roll stripper harvesting is common, alongside traditional spindle picker machine harvesting. Lint was processed into rotor spun, carded ring-spun, and combed ring spun medium count yarns to determine the impact of harvesting and ginning methods on textile product quality. Rotor spinning produced comparable quality yarns regardless of harvest or ginning method, while carded ring-spun yarns showed statistical differences in quality. Combing was able to eliminate any functional differences in quality due to the pre-mill handling of the cottons. There were no differences found in ends-down during ring spinning, regardless of harvest and ginning method, although cottons produced with high-speed roller ginning were able to be spun at higher spindle speeds which equates to higher production speeds.