Cotton bales are stored for various lengths of time after ginning in any given year depending on crop size as well as market demand. Storage of cotton bales in covered warehouses is the general industry practice for most of the U.S. cotton belt. However, some cotton bales are stored in outside holding yards in the more arid parts of the cotton belt by producer preference or because of lack of available indoor storage due to the size of the cotton crop in any particular year. Data is lacking on the relative effects on cotton quality between outside and inside storage of cotton bales. A one-year bale storage test was initiated to determine the effects of long-term outside and inside bale storage under arid conditions, on fiber and textile processing quality. Ten bales of Pima cotton were stored in an approved warehouse and ten bales were stored in an outside storage yard. The bales were covered with a specially formulated linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) film with UV inhibitors. Each bale was sampled to determine HVI properties at the time of ginning and then instrumented with a temperature and humidity recorder prior to being placed in storage. The objective of the test was to determine if there were any significant differences in cotton quality factors due to storage location from raw fiber through textile processing. No significant statistical differences were found to exist.
