In recent years, we have witnessed a dramatic change in our grading and marketing system. This is primarily the result of the cotton industry's ability to identify and supply the quality characteristics that are most desirable for any given end-use. High volume Instrument crossing has been an integral part of this revolution. It has taken the mystique out of what constitutes quality and substituted data - detailed information about a number of cotton's physical properties. However, as we attempt to get full value from HVI, both producer-ginner and textile mill alike, we are beginning to explore different ways of using this information in order to achieve a better understanding of cotton's true utility value. Module averaging is one of these concepts being investigated. It is an attempt to prove a theory that some mill people have long believed -- that is, if a cotton sample is truly representative of a 500 pound bale, then how much better would it be to have a composite of all qualities from the same field. Obviously, in commercial operations today it would be next to impossible to combine and average the qualities from a field, but a representative unit much easier to work with in obtaining average quality is available with a module or trailer.

AMS, through discussions with the Cotton Quality Measurements Committee and the Marketing Advisory Committee decided to test this concept -- first, last season with limited data and controlled experiments. Those data and results were promising enough to begin pilot studies this season on a good portion of the crop.

There are many things to consider with the module averaging concept -- ranging from marketing considerations for producers and a gin's logistical concerns to actual utilization at the textile mill. Hopefully, the results of this pilot program will provide AMS and the cotton industry with a better understanding of what this means and if it should be implemented.

Our panel discussion today should provide our audience with a broad range of perspectives on this concept -- from statistics implications to how the pilot study worked, both across the Cotton Belt and at three different ginning operations.