One of the primary functions of associations is to connect people. Getting members of a group together to discuss, share, problem solve and network is an essential in any business. I dare say that businesses that don’t have that connection will eventually fail (not always, but often). That being said there are other ways to link people or solidify those ... Read More »
The Lummus Corp., a leading solution and equipment supplier to the cotton ginning, oilseed processing and affiliated industries, appointed Russell Sutton president. Sutton brings to his new role more than four decades of industry experience in all functional areas of cotton ginning machinery company operations, including sales, service, engineering and manufacturing. In his internal announcement to employees, Ben Hinnen, CEO ... Read More »
The number of active cotton gins in Arkansas rose to 33 in 2017, paralleling an increase in cotton acres, according to statistics from the National Agricultural Statistics Service. “With a recovery in cotton acres the last couple of years, Arkansas is also seeing some gins come back to life,” says Scott Stiles, Extension economist for the University of Arkansas System ... Read More »
Overhead seed houses are valuable for short-term seed storage, wet seed storage and gins with limited yard space. Design improvements allow overhead seed houses to be an efficient method for loading trucks from flat-storage houses. When fully loaded, a double-hopper seed house can weigh 200,000 pounds or more. This load hovers above trucks and personnel, so structural integrity is critical. ... Read More »
Twelve West Texas gins were inspected by the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor during the 2016/2017 ginning season. The Wage and Hour folks came right back this year, inspecting eight more gins. I don’t know whether we will see them again next year, but the Wage and Hour folks certainly know what a cotton gin is. ... Read More »
Safety is always a topic that draws mixed reactions. I’ve written more safety articles and given more safety talks than I care to think about, but it’s something I feel is important. In the past couple of years, gins — along with many other industries — have been required to report their serious accidents directly to the Occupational Safety and ... Read More »
We discussed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s rule to improve tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses as it progressed last year. The first reporting deadline for 2016 data was Dec. 1, 2017. It was moved back several times as industry pushed to get the rule repealed. But ultimately OSHA refused, and the rule did go into effect. For 2017 ... Read More »
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