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COTTON GINNING season is in full effect, as another module is headed to the gin for processing. (Photo by Ann Reagan) -
COTTON PROCESSING is in full swing at the Spade Coop Gin, as bales continue to make their way to the gins. (Photo by Ann Reagan)
Driving through Lamb County one immediately notices that the cotton harvest is well underway, and if the weather stays dry, it will be nearing completion in good time.
The cotton fields which once glowed white as far as one could see now bear the stark contrast of brown dirt covered with brown, bare stalks. Hawks are lazily cruising the sky enjoying the easy meals the harvest machines have stirred up. The patches of white are rapidly diminishing throughout the county thanks to the good weather this fall.
Of course, there are the “module trains” consisting of the pickup truck rear guards, the portable fuel tanks, and the very large, very wide, harvesting machines on the West Texas highways. The harvesters are working well into the night taking advantage of the unusually good weather this fall. As drivers near a gin location they hear the nonstop roar of trucks, machinery, and the cotton gins processing the cotton.
Lamb County Leader-News contacted the county’s cotton gins and obtained some numbers. The harvest is in full swing, but according to the local gins the end is not in sight yet.
Spade Coop Gin reported 22,500 bales ginned to date with 1,550 modules on the gin yard.
Texas Producers Coop-Sudan and Amherst, report 45,189 bales ginned and 3,386 modules on the ground to be ginned.
Springlake-Earth Cotton Growers started November 1st and reported 6,064 bales ginned and 833 modules on the yard.
Skyland Grain Gin in Olton reports 52,887 bales ginned and 900 modules on the gin yard.
The total of bales ginned so far is 126,640.
A friendly reminder to Lamb County drivers to please exercise caution when encountering the cotton harvesting equipment and trucks on the local highways. If you cannot see the oncoming lane when following harvesting machines, then do not pass the harvesting vehicles and equipment. They have those caution signs for a reason. They can see the oncoming traffic that a car behind them cannot, and they will usually move to the right side of the roadway if the way is clear.
Always exercise caution when meeting an oncoming “module train.” Some drivers will pass them anyway.