With temperatures starting to drop, the cotton season is nearing its end with gins providing their final bale count.
The Texas Producers Cooperative is under 54,000 bales and will continue to gin into the next week. Texas Spade Co-Op Gin finished ginning on Jan. 7, 2025, with a total of 23,633 bales. The Olton Cotton Gin finished its season right before Christmas with 50,425 bales. Springlake-Earth Cotton Growers ended the season on Dec. 21, 2024, with 11,077 bales.
With the conclusion of the cotton season, gins will start cleaning and inspecting equipment for repairs in preparation for the next season. The after-season includes preparing the cotton for grading and selling.
Gins send their cotton samples to the United States Department of Agriculture or USDA office in Lubbock, Texas for grading. Once the USDA has concluded grading, the samples are returned with cotton grades or loan value of the cotton. After receiving a loan value for the cotton, the cotton is uploaded to the cotton market. The market allows gins to sell their cotton with an offer price, people around the world can bid on the cotton.
There are no specific deadlines for selling cotton, the cotton market allows for prices to fluctuate.
The 2024 cotton season was Christopher “Chris” Alderson’s first season as general manager.
Alderson started working for Springlake-Earth Cotton Growers on Jan. 14, 2017. Before working for Springlake-Earth he was working for the Module Truck Service or MTS.
“I was out here working on one of Mike’s [previous general manager] trucks and he asked me if I ever thought about working in cot- ton,” Alderson said.
Mike West, the previous general manager, thought he’d be good for the job.
He started working as a gin superintendent, the role had him oversee the truck and operations in the gin. Following West’s retirement, Alderson applied for the position and officially started on Aug. 1, 2024.
“Being the superintendent here and working under Mike for six years sure gave me a direction to go with stepping into this position,” Alderson said.
The cotton industry faces challenges.
“As a whole, big challenges for us would be between market prices and moisture in the area,” Alderson said.
He emphasized the importance of getting the world market price up on cotton. A need for moisture is important for growing a good crop.
Building the relationship between the gin and its farmers is a priority for Alderson.
“I like to go out and visit with the current farmers and see if there is an opportunity to get out there and build a relationship with them,” he said.
Springlake-Earth has two personnel in the gin and a bookkeeper. The start of the off-season will allow employees to see what needs to change.
Alderson’s vision for Springlake-Earth is to continue the work they’ve done.
“I keep doing what we’re doing, keep providing customer service,” Alderson said. “Just being available whenever.”