Earlier this week the 2015 Beltwide Cotton Consultants Conference took place in San Antonio, TX. One of the hot topics discussed during the event was contamination prevention. Dale W. Thompson, National Cotton Council, spoke to the group in attendance about the potentially growing problem.
Dale said this is no new problem for cotton growers and has a huge impact on the bottom line for growers. The problem is seen when the product has moved down the line to the textile mills and then ultimately the consumer in the marketplace. Dale shared images of what the mills see when harvesting is done improperly. “Once contamination is hit, it is really difficult recapture those markets.”
Dale goes on to share technology used to filter contamination and the publications out there to education growers on ways to implement prevention on their own operations.
“We are trending in the right direction. Contamination on the 2013 survey was less then in pervious years for U.S. cotton. The bad news is we still have a lot of plastics getting into our cotton found in textile mills around the world. That is why we have made an effort to get the word out to growers, ginners, warehouses and the transportation industry that contamination is a serious issue and we look for help from consultants that have good relationships throughout the industry.”
Listen to more about this critical subject here: Dale Thompson Presentation
You can find photos from the opening day of the conferences here: 2015 Beltwide Cotton Conferences
