Olton CO-OP Gin - Texas Cotton


	In The News OLTON CO-OP GIN BEGINS 60TH GINNING SEASON, DEVELOPS WEB SITE TO SUBMIT MODULES by Shelley E. Huguley 9/2/2004 This year Olton CO-OP Gin is celebrating its 60th ginning season. Since May 29 of 1944, Olton CO-OP Gin has served cotton producers throughout the area, and as farming has changed, Olton CO-OP Gin has progressed with its producers to meet their ginning needs. Reading through Olton CO-OP Gin's board member minutes, details painted a picture of the sign of the times. During the 1940s, a gin manager was paid about $275-$300 per month and the use of electricity to power the gin was only a discussion rather than a reality. Ginning cost 50 cents a bale with a $3 spread on cottonseed. The decision to gin on Sundays was motioned, seconded and carried by the board members, as long as the other gins in town agreed to do so as well. And they did. The '50s brought about major changes at Olton CO-OP Gin. The original gin was sold, while land east of Olton was purchased (where the gin currently sits) and two new gins were built. The new facilities ginned about seven or eight bales an hour and were operated by about eight employees: two ginners, two suction feeders, two press boys, a man to pull cotton trailers under the suction feeder and another to drag them away. Gin manager Lloyd Graham, Texas COOP Ginner of the Year in 1959 and dubbed as the "million-dollar manager," ran the new facilities and Bob Williams, a 50-year veteran of Olton CO-OP, was gin superintendent. He still works at the gin along side two of his sons who now supervise the gin. In a 1959 South Plains Yearbook, it was noted that Olton CO-OP Gin processed more cotton than any other gin in the world. At that time, the gin operated a double-drying system, a triple lint cleaning set and burr handling facility. The yearbook also noted that throughout Lamb County, the 1958 crop produced 178,144 bales generating a farm income that exceeded $69 million. The '50s were also the beginning of stockholder business meetings accompanied with a supper, though not catered like they are today. Rather, a beef was purchased from a local producer for 32 cents a pound and prepared for the meal. There was anywhere from 270 stockholders and visitors in attendance in 1953, to 1,500 by 1959. And the Olton High School band was often the entertainment. In 1961, Olton CO-OP Gin added Gin #3-- a Murray 4-120 saw gin plant. It was built east of Gin #2 facing south. Also new, was a seed house, bur boxes, boll catchers, and a 16-by-40 feet jug-type burner. A humidifier was later added as well as a new press pump and bur burner. And the capacity was increased in Gin #1. During the '70s, gin capacity was also increased in Gin #2, increasing its volume to about 20 bales per hour. A UD Press made in Brazil was also installed--the first of its kind in this country. But the biggest change during the 70's for producers and the gin, was the transition from gathering cotton in sacks or trailers to packing it into modules. The first modules arrived at Olton CO-OP Gin in 1977. By 1979, the gin had purchased its first two module trucks. By now, producers had also given up hand-pulling cotton and primarily used cotton strippers. By 1985, Gin #1 had been shut down and its machinery moved to Gin #3. Cat more In The News articles...

In The News