Ginning

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 It was moved back several times as industry pushed to get the rule repealed.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 »

National Cotton Ginners Association Presents Awards, Elects New Officers Dwayne Alford, former manager and vice president of YUCO Gin, and who provided several years of dedicated service to the U.S. cotton industry, is the 2017 Horace Hayden National Cotton Ginner of the Year. The annual National Cotton Ginners Association’s award is presented to a ginner in recognition of: 1) able, ... Read More »

Southern Southeastern Annual Meeting Cotton Farmers And Ginners Gather To Share Ideas And Honor Peers — By Carroll Smith, Editor — The Annual Meeting of the Southern Cotton Growers and the Southeastern Cotton Ginners Association was held recently in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Participants from across the Southeast came together to address important issues that affect the industry on regional, ... Read More »

Texas Cotton Ginners’ Association Annual Meeting And Trade Show Set For April 5-6 In Lubbock BY TONY WILLIAMS TCGA EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Despite challenges in 2017 from Hurricane Harvey and an early freeze in West Texas, the mindset among cotton farmers and ginners heading into this season is positive overall. The 2017 crop is projected to be the largest ever ... Read More »