One of the most important factors impacting the profitability of a cotton ginning operation is the number of bales produced per hour, as higher ginning rates typically reduce energy and labor costs on a per bale basis. Data from eight commercial gins were used to evaluate the impact of incoming seed cotton attributes such as fiber quality measurements, moisture content, and variety on gin throughput. After normalizing the data by gin, time of year, and bale weight, models were developed to quantify the impact of fiber quality and seed cotton variety characteristics on ginning rate. Post-ginning lint quality attributes, such as extraneous matter, negatively influenced ginning rate. Higher micronaire values and reflectance corresponded to faster ginning rates, whereas increases in yellowness resulted in a decreased ginning rate. The interaction of reflectance and micronaire negatively affected ginning rate. Seed cotton variety characteristics included lint percentage and bract trichomes, which negatively influenced ginning rate, whereas fiber density positively influenced it. The study also indicated that ginning rate abruptly drops when seed cotton moisture content reaches an upper threshold. Additionally, the initial and final weeks of ginning have a slower ginning rate than the middle part of the ginning season. A ginning rate calculator was developed using models to predict ginning rate and justify variable ginning rates based on incoming seed cotton variety characteristics and lint properties.
