Mississippi State, Mississippi
June 25, 2009
Fewer cotton acres in Mississippi
mean less demand for cotton ginning, and whole communities in
the Mississippi Delta are feeling the impact of the loss of
their livelihood.
A cotton gin is the piece of equipment that separates the cotton
seeds from the cotton. Eli Whitney mechanized this process for
the first time in 1793.
John Michael Riley, an agricultural economist with the
Mississippi State University
Extension Service, said since 2000, Mississippi has seen a 34
percent decrease in the number of cotton gins in operation, from
109 to 72. Back in 1991, the state had 181 cotton gins. Some of
the decrease is due to the development of more efficient gins,
but gins are simply processing less cotton.
“There were 62 gins in 2000 that ginned 10,000 or more bales a
year, representing 53 percent of gins. That same year, 54 gins
processed less than 10,000 bales,” Riley said. “In 2008, that
changed to 47, or 65 percent, ginning less than 10,000 bales,
and 25 ginning more than 10,000 bales.”
In that same time period, the number of acres of cotton in
Mississippi has dropped about 72 percent from 1.2 million acres
in 2000 to an estimated 300,000 acres in 2009.
Riley said this change in the industry has had some significant
economic impacts.
“Researchers at Louisiana State University calculated the
specific economic impact for the mid-South cotton producing
states is that for every dollar taken out from a ginning
standpoint, that’s $2.40 taken from the economy,” Riley said.
“That figure is $1.45 in Mississippi because it reflects the
upkeep of the gins, and we spend a portion of our money on gin
upkeep in Memphis, so it has a less direct impact on the
Mississippi economy.”
In addition to the amount of money spent, or not spent, in a
community to operate the gin, there is the human factor.
“These gins hire people in the community, so whenever you lose
that gin, that workforce has to do something else,” Riley said.
Many cotton gin laborers can learn new skills and get other jobs
in agricultural enterprises. Some likely will have to move away.
“You need more labor for the production and processing of cotton
than you do for any of the state’s other major row crops,” Riley
said. “There are more steps in the process, and each of these
steps requires people.”
Darrin Dodds, Extension cotton specialist, said cotton acres
declined as farmers compared the profitability of the crop with
others. Cotton’s technology fees are expensive and the crop
requires a fair amount of costly nitrogen and potassium. Pest
control costs for insects such as tarnished plant bugs and
two-spotted spider mites, and weed control costs, especially
where resistant weeds are a problem, are also high.
“Growing cotton requires a significant financial commitment,”
Dodds said. “It is unclear whether we’ll ever have 1.2 million
acres of cotton again; however, I could see us getting back to
about 750,000 acres, but cotton profitability will have to
increase and profitability for other crops will have to
decrease.”
If the day comes that Mississippi increases its cotton acreage
again, Riley said the existing cotton gins can resume operation.
“There is a cost associated with getting them running again, but
if the demand is there, it’s worth switching them back on,”
Riley said. |
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