Agricultural News
Cotton Harvester Builds Modules Internally, Reduces Farmers' Costs
Tue, 10 Dec 2013 10:43:16 CST
Production costs are something people in production agriculture try to keep at a minimum. Harvesting crops has always been an expensive item for farmers. Being able to quickly and economically harvest a crop is very important for a farmer. Such limitations as the quality of the crop's yield and weather conditions keep farmers searching for better ways to effectively carry out a harvest.
For several decades now, cotton producers have used technology created by Texas A&M University agricultural engineer Lambert H. Wilkes. Working with funding provided by Cotton Incorporated, Wilkes developed the cotton module builder, a large container mounted on wheels with a hydraulic piston which moved back and forth on top of the cotton, tamping it down as it filled up. After the container was filled, a module containing from eight to 14 bales of cotton was left on the field turn row. Module hauling trucks, usually owned by a local cotton gin, would then pick up the modules to be processed at the gin.
In the early 2000's, John Deere and Case IH created mechanized cotton harvesters that could create their own modules internally while harvesting the cotton in the field.
John Schieber, a Union City, Ok., farmer, bought a John Deere 7760 harvester in 2010. Since the machine retails for approximately half a million dollars, Schieber needed to find more for the new machine to do than just harvest his own cotton. He has a good business custom harvesting cotton for other farmers in the central Oklahoma area.
Schieber, like other producers constantly thinking about ways to reduce crop harvesting costs and the time needed to accomplish the deed, believes custom cotton harvesters using module-building machines can also reduce the amount of money farmers must spend to produce cotton.
"This machine is not cheap and you have to use it a lot to justify owning one," he said. "It isn't hard to find farmers who need someone with good equipment to harvest their cotton. Harvesting good cotton with a picker, which takes the cotton lint out of the boll, will bring the farmer four more cents a pound for his cotton."
Schieber explained manufacturers are developing module-building cotton strippers which harvest the entire cotton boll.
"One round module will hold four typical ginned cotton bales," he said. "Under dryland growing conditions and when early frosts prevent the cotton bolls from fully opening to expose the lint for harvests, pickers are not able to do the job they are designed to do. But when there is a good crop to harvest under ordinary weather conditions, the picker is the way to go."
Schieber explained he needed at least 1,500 acres of cotton to harvest to make money as a custom harvester. By using a machine like his John Deere, he eliminates seven employees to run a cotton module builder, tractors and boll buggies.
"I can harvest six rows of cotton at a time," he said. "The best fields to harvest are where 12 row cotton planters have been used. That way, I can harvest six rows in one direction, turn around and harvest six rows in the other direction. The machine harvests cotton at four to five miles an hour."
When interviewed for this story, Schieber was harvesting a field of irrigated cotton for Gregg Hobbs, a Kingfisher, Ok., farmer. Hobbs' cotton is located northwest of Dover, Ok. The cotton variety Schieber was harvesting is FiberMax 1740, he said
Schieber explained Hobbs grows cotton in a rotation with corn and rye. He uses the rye as a cover crop to protect young cotton and also grazes it with stocker cattle after a corn crop.
Gene Overton manages the Minco, Ok., gin cooperative where Schieber is a member.
"Cotton producers need to cut back on operating expenses when they grow the crop," Overton said. "If a farmer doesn't need to spend money on harvesting equipment, his expenses are lower. Using custom harvesters who own module-building machines like John Deere and Case IH make reduces the farmer's expenses and gives him more time to haul the cotton to the gin."
Many custom cotton harvesters, similar to those who follow the spring grain harvests, will harvest cotton in places like south Texas, then move to north Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. Using module-building harvesters will permit them and their farmer customers to make more money from cotton and spend less.
by Vic Schoonover
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