Cotton Ginning, Handling, and Marketing, Southwest Irrigated Cotton Region

Excerpts from the paper: The Southwest Irrigated Cotton (SWIC) region covers parts of three states. It encompasses four counties in southeastern Arizona, ten counties in southern New Mexico, and thirteen counties in Far West Texas. The crop producing areas, and therefore the cotton gins, warehouses and marketing organizations, are scattered throughout this vast region, and tend to be located in the valleys where cotton is grown. The wide spread between production areas and market facilities across this vast region creates many problems with respect to handling and the movement of cotton to central markets or to mill points. The cotton gins are located mostly in the irrigated valleys where there is a concentration of production. In most cases, only one gin serves a given production area or community. Consequently, there is less competition among gins in the SWIC region than in most other areas across the Cotton Belt. The charge for ginning and wrapping cotton amounted to about $26.00 per bale in 1973, and $35.00 in 1975. Ginning volume is relatively low in the SWIC region, averaging less than 2,000 bales per gin in 1975. The capacity of saw gins averages about ten bales per hour. None of the gins have mechanical samplers or universal density presses, but several gins have the older standard density presses. The Southwestern Irrigated Cotton Growers Association (SWIG), a grower cooperative, is the principal market outlet for cotton in the SWIC region. Other outlets include local independent buyers and beltwide merchants who purchase cotton for the domestic and export markets. Major structural changes are occurring in the ginning, warehousing, oilseed processing, and merchandising sectors as well as in the production sector of the cotton industry in the SWIC region. Adjustment in some areas such as the Trans-Pecos has been more severe than in other areas. The continuing decline in production all across the region is impacting sharply on cotton ginners, handlers, and merchandising firms as well as cotton producers and suppliers of farm inputs. The changes that are occurring in these sectors of the industry raise important questions about the future of the cotton industry in the SWIC region.