This fall, while in Kansas for the State of Now, I took the backroads from Hutchison toward the part of northwestern Oklahoma I called home for four years while I was in college. When I was driving through an “s” curve, I saw this sign and had to stop — yes, the cotton logo had demanded my attention! I thought I’d quickly snap a photo or two and get back on the road, but then a loaded truck came by and I realized the cotton gin was incredibly close. Just felt like I had to stop! Here are the photos I snapped and some of the things I saw that afternoon.
Driving down the road, I saw this sign & had to stop — Southern Kansas Cotton Growers Cooperative
A module truck drove by as I took the photo of the coop’s sign… I knew the gin had to be close by so I followed it! I went into the office while the driver had the module weighed in.
Self-portrait (that’s me Janice Person) at a cotton cooperative, modules in the background. It was a really windy day!
a cotton module (tightly compacted seed cotton straight from the field) enters the gin, and first step is it is pulled apart
These are the gin stands — the equipment that will separate cotton lint from cotton seeds
Closeup of the part of the gin stand that separates lint from seed — those are really small saws that pull the lint through
Cotton gin control panel
This is the bale press — the piece of equipment that compacts cotton lint into a bale for storage & transport for use in textiles
The gin’s mechanic was working on equipment and was nice enough to stop and visit for a few minutes. The coop has two gins that they alternated running this season. He keeps things in good mechanical order. Months later, I mentioned meeting him and found out that he has sent his kids to some of the most elite universities in the US based on his hard work in the cotton industry. Love that!
cotton bales ready for shipping
every bale of cotton in the US gets a permanent bale tag that stays with it from gin to fabric
Cottonseed, gin trash, etc are placed outside the gin until its sold by the truck load.
Farming equipment facinates me!
It is amazing isn’t it!
Cool! I’m a southern farm girl and my daddy was a farm equipment salesman! Come visit me at NanaHood.com I’d love to get to know you!
Nice to meet ya! Will definitely visit.
One adventure leads to another! What an interesting find!
Happy WW!
Thank you for coming by! I love the real world! 🙂
that looks like such a fun adventure!!! My kids would definitely love to go through that tour 😉
Thank you for hosting a linky, I have one as well, if you’d like to stop by, and there is also a link for a giveaway link-up 😉
https://su.pr/4uYXri
Never seen this before, interesting! 🙂 Danica
Thanks for stopping by! I love cotton farms, gins, etc and needed a refresh 🙂
How cool! Having just recently moved to the south we’ve seen our first cotton fields. This would be a fun thing to see as well.
What part of the South are you in? Maybe I can find a cotton farmer for you to visit this summer on a day trip or something. 🙂
Oh heck! I know you are in South Carolina! I bet I can find someone for you to visit, take photos on their farm if you are interested.
Never seen anything like it – fascinating.
Glad you enjoyed! Thanks for coming by.
I love seeing things like this! Thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it AJ
What an experience…always looking for new places to visit. My husband loves to take the back roads on adventures and not the main highways. It can be interesting if you are not in a hurry to get some where. Looking forward to retirement to do more trips like this. Thanks for the info.
I agree. Love getting on the backroads! That’s where you can find amazingly unique sights & people! 🙂
That is fascinating. I just saw the pic of all that cotton. Oh my goodness!
WOW.
Hope you have a happy WW!
Thanks Heloise! It was a great one so far…. still working on getting back to folks sites and seeing what else they have going! Hope to see you again.
Thank you Janice for publishing that info. My business (in Western NY) is familiar with and interested in Cotton Bale Tags. I was hunting the web for current images and came upon yours. So, I don’t know if you’ll see this 3+ years after posting your info but I thank you nonetheless.
With kind regards,
Richard