Harvest Time! An Update on Ginning in the High Plains

Harvest has begun in the High Plains region, primarily in the Panhandle, but even Texas Star Co-op Gin in Slaton, Texas, had some modules on the yard. “We did some custom ginning for Farmers Co-op Gin in Ackerly, Texas, who decided not to open this year,” said Cary Eubanks, gin manager for Texas Star. “We ginned about 43 modules, producing 580 bales and it was phenomenal cotton.”

The cotton came from a drip irrigated field in Ackerly and Eubanks decided to gin immediately to preserve the grade of the cotton. Brian Nichols, manager of Farmers Co-op Gin, reported he had received grades on 190 of those bales and most averaged loan values of about 56 cents.

“It was nice to start out on a positive note,” Eubanks added. “Not that it’s not a tough year, but with all the negativity, it’s nice that our first round was a good one.”