ABSTRACT

A revolutionary innovation was introduced into the ginning industry on a commercial basis in the mid-1990s. From the initial beta testing conducted at just a few sites, the technology currently is installed in over eighty gins. This paper attempts to estimate the impact adoption of this technology has had on the cotton industry at the producer, gin, and textile mill levels. Published reports on impacts at each level are used to synthesize an estimate for these impacts. There are several estimates available for impacts at the producer level, but no published data are available for the gin and textile mill levels. Based on the data available, the net effect at the producer level appears to be approximately eight dollars per bale.