Grade reductions for bark have been associated with the stick content of stripper harvested cotton. A relatively simple and expensive stripper roll modification has been developed which consistently reduces stick content in bur cotton. This modification requires replacement of the standard 2-inch rubber paddles with narrower paddles and timing the stripper rolls to operate brush-to-brush. During the 1986 through 1988 harvest seasons, 13-on farm tests were conducted with farmer owned and operated strippers to evaluate and demonstrate the effectiveness of this modification in reducing trash content and its potential for barky grades. From these trials, it was determined that the modified strippers did not effect lint yields, provided a 0.4% increase in lint turnouts, lowered harvest efficiency 0.6% and decreased stick and fine trash contents 17 and 14%, respectively. Grade reductions for bark occurred only during the 1986 season and these were related more to climatic and plant conditions at harvest than to the stick content of stripped cotton. Even under adverse conditions, the stripper roll modification reduced stick and fine trash levels in bur cotton and, in most instances, the number of barky grades.