In 1982, over five thousand cotton gins were in operation in the U.S. Each produced around twenty-five-hundred bales. Today we have roughly 800 gins and they are producing over twenty-five thousand bales per gin. Dr. Tommy Valco, Cotton Technology Transfer and Education Coordinator for USDA-ARS, says improvements in ginning technology is responsible for the dramatic decrease in the number of gins and the increase in productivity.