As the end of October nears, harvest for this year’s cotton crop is beginning to ramp up for producers and cotton gins across west Texas. With the tough conditions caused by the lack of moisture, a vast majority of producers that planted cotton in the beginning of the season were forced to make a decision if they wanted to continue growing their crop or call it for the season. The risks outweighed the reward for many as the conditions for farmers worsened throughout the year. For the few producers that have decided to go through with their current crop, producers and gins are now looking at the price of cotton as the number continues to drop. As of October 27, the price of cotton currently sits at $.75 per pound. Once above a dollar earlier in the year, the price per pound of cotton has steadily dropped with the highest number for the month of October being $.88 per pound. For Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Agent Kerry Siders, he explained that the cotton quality and amount from each field is going to vary greatly. After doing a trial harvest on a field last Saturday, Siders said the field generally produces three bales plus yearly. However, after conducting their test, only a third of that amount was harvested and baled. Driving through different areas and looking at various fields, Siders says that it’s obvious there will not be as much cotton harvested this year by just looking around.
While the price of cotton continuous to drop, Siders feels that the price has the potential to climb back up due to the demand of cotton that will grow as the end of the year nears.
Siders feels like the potential for increasing prices is a possibility, but without a crystal ball it is anyone’s guess.
For producers, they have been putting money into their crop to get the best quality they can achieve. Now the ginning companies are tossing their hats in the ring.
The operation of a gin comes with a large price tag as turning on and off the gin takes an immense amount of power.
Several stories through various news outlets have put their focus on ginning companies as they are struggling to justify their number of employees for this year’s harvest. For Garry and Todd Willingham and the Southwest Willingham Gin, they are working hard through the conditions and treating this year like any other.
Working with a group of “young pups,” G. Willingham, 81, T. Willingham, 60, Freddie Brown. 67, Larry Ivins, 60, Junior Salazar, 67, Frank Ruiz, 75 and Emeterio Ruiz, 70, those men have been farming for the majority of their lives. “We’ve been doing this for so long even before we worked together,” said T. Willinham. “I’m pretty sure we have been farming since we could walk and talk. Every year someone says this is it for us producers, but I think we have been in this long enough to know we’ll keep going.”
For the Willingham’s turning in for the year wasn’t an option due to their beliefs and the fact that there is a group of workers that need this work.
“I don’t blame any farmer or producer for the decision they made with this year’s crop,” said T. Willingham. “This is an important decision that can be a life decision for many. For us, I have a group of guys who need the work in terms of money, but also this work is all they know and it’s in their blood.”
Working the crop is no problem for those Cochran County producers, but the weather has not been helping the process of the harvest.
“No farmer or producer is going to hate the rain or any type of moisture,” said T. Willingham. “This wet weather is helping us setup for the Spring, but right now we can’t run any of the machines because the crop is too wet right now. The wind tends to help us dry up, but the clouds, cooler weather and longer lasting moisture have kept us from going faster.”
For the group of workers handling the gin, instead of 24hour shifts, the gin has resorted to 12-hour shifts to adapt to the current conditions.
“We’ve had to adjust and make a few changes, but we are going to go through this harvest and get it done,” said T. Willingham.