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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Cotton Ginning Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #377936
Research Project: Development and Evaluation of Novel Technologies to Improve Fiber Quality and Increase Profitability in Cotton Processing

Location: Cotton Ginning Research

Title: The impact of ginning rate on fiber and seed quality

Author
item Blake, Cody
item Whitelock, Derek
item Buser, Michael
item Funk, Paul
item Armijo, Carlos

Submitted to: Applied Engineering in Agriculture
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/13/2021
Publication Date: 2/17/2022
Citation: Blake, C.D., Whitelock, D.P., Buser, M.D., Funk, P.A., Armijo, C.B. 2022. The impact of ginning rate on fiber and seed quality. Applied Engineering in Agriculture. 38(1):9-14. https://doi.org/10.13031/aea.14303.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.13031/aea.14303

Interpretive Summary: A research experiment designed to test cotton fiber and seed quality as ginning rate is slowed. This experiment took 2 gin stands running three ginning rate levels to test possible improvements to quality measurements. The experiment proved to improve a few of the HVI and AFIS qualities, yet an economical improvement for a slower ginning rate does not warrant slowing ginning rate in commercial settings.

Technical Abstract: Fiber quality measurements need to be maintained as ginning rates and saw loadings increase. This study utilized two gin stands, which were each operated at three different ginning rate levels to determine if there were significant differences in fiber quality as a function of ginning rate. As ginning rates were reduced, HVI results for leaf grade, trash area, and color grade, were significantly improved. AFIS measurements showed lower ginning rates resulted in longer fibers with less short fiber. Reducing the ginning rate on average from 7.36 bales per hour ( 48.7 kg/saw/h) to 4.10 bales per hour (27.2 kg/saw/h) increased the lint value by $3.92 per 218 kg bale, yet the increase in lint value may be negated by increased labor and other costs due to the additional processing time per bale.