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ARS Home » Plains Area » Lubbock, Texas » Cropping Systems Research Laboratory » Cotton Production and Processing Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #76522
Title: LINT CLEANING STRIPPER-HARVESTED COTTON FOR MAXIMIZING PRODUCER NET RETURNS

Author
item BENNETT, BLAKE - TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY
item MISRA, SUKANT - TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY
item Barker, Gary

Submitted to: Applied Engineering in Agriculture
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/5/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The objective of cleaning cotton in the gin plant is to provide cotton to the textile mill with an acceptable trash content and other fiber qualities. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recomended a combination of cotton ginning machinery, regardless of the level of foreign matter content in the cotton, and a ginning process which includes two lint cleanings. This processing procedure is assumed to achieve satisfactory bale value with minimum damage to the inherent quality of the fiber. Previous research on machine-stripped cotton also suggests that two lint cleanings were the best general rule. This study evaluates the economic consequences of successive stages of lint cleaning using the economic criteria of maximizing net revenues per bale of ginned cotton. This is the first analytical study which consistently indicates one lint cleaning as returning maximum net revenues to cotton producers regardless of harvest date or cultivar. Based on the findings of this study, producer will be able to realize an average increase in net revenues of $4.54/bale when one lint cleaning is used versus two with a range of $7.35 to $1.92/ bale.

Technical Abstract: Simulation analysis was used to determine the net returns per bale for cotton for six different stripper harvested cultivars using early, mid-seas nd late harvest dates. The cotton quality model, GINQUAL, was used to study the effects of up to three lint cleaners on gin turnout and cotton quality attributes such as length, strength, and micronaire. Cotton prices were estimated from price relationships determined using the Daily Price Estimation System. Ginning costs were estimated using the GINMODEL simulator which calculates variable, fixed and total cost per bale for ginning cotton with one, two, and three int cleaners. The study found that net returns were consistently higher for one lint cleaning in the gin plant for all cultivars regardless of the time of harvest. One lint cleaning increased net revenue by an average of $4.54/bale when compared to two lint cleanings.