Comparison of High-Speed Roller and Saw Ginning on Texas High Plains Cotton

Compared to saw ginning, increased ginning costs associated with conventional roller ginning due to low production rates prevented the widespread application of roller ginning for upland cultivars.  Advances in roller ginning technology have increased gin stand production rates to levels comparable to saw gin stands.  These advancements have lead to new interest in roller ginning upland cultivars in several areas of the US, including the Texas High Plains.  Earlier work comparing saw and roller ginned upland cotton indicates that fiber length and length uniformity properties can be substantially improved for roller ginned cotton.  This work details the first year’s work on a project comparing fiber quality and turnout of upland cotton produced in the Texas High Plains harvested using either a spindle type picker or a brush roll stripper and ginned using saw and high speed roller ginning systems.