National Cotton Ginners Association (NCGA) President Dwayne Alford says building and maintaining a well-trained ginning sector workforce is vitally important for the U.S. cotton industry to continue being globally competitive. That’s the key message Alford conveyed in his remarks to the Texas Cotton Ginners’ Association annual meeting last month.
“I can’t emphasize enough that a competent ginner workforce is critical to meeting the challenge of balancing ginning efficiently while maximizing the lint’s value so the end-users get the quality fiber they require,” the Arizona ginner says.
Fundamental to achieving that objective, Alford says, is healthy attendance by certified ginners, gin managers, superintendents and gin workers at the three annual Ginners Schools. Alford says it was encouraging to see 145 attendees at the recently-completed Southwest Ginners School in Lubbock.
The schools’ Level I, II and III courses run daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and each level of Ginners Schools’ coursework is built on the previous level of instruction, with Level I serving as the foundation. It is recommended that all new students, regardless of gin experience, begin with Level I.
The two-day continuing education (CE) course for certified ginners and gin managers/superintendents will feature a new harvesting technology session. It will include a discussion of round modules and focus on harvester operation for efficiency and quality and harvest aid options.
The CE sessions also will provide an in-depth review of pre-cleaning drying and leaf grades; an automation update; energy usage; gin capacity robber identification; maximizing the gin’s production capacity; and new developments in the textile industry, including quality issues.
Online registration and information is at www.cotton.org/ncga/ginschool/index.cfm for the Stoneville School, to be held at the USDA ginning laboratory in Stoneville, Miss., on June 3-5 and for the Western Ginners School at the Southwest Ginning Research Laboratory in Mesilla Park, N.M., May 6-8.
For more information, contact NCGA at (901) 274-9030 or visit www.cotton.org/ncga/ginschool/ index.cfm.