How to Produce the Perfect Cotton Bale Weight
For cotton growers, producing the appropriate cotton bale weight is more than a matter of professionalism: it is a matter that could end up costing them a substantial amount of money in penalties from the Cotton Exchange. According to information from the Delta Farm Press, cotton growers are charged a three to 20 dollar penalty for each bale below the weight of 474 pounds. Thus, establishing a proper bale weight can save a substantial amount of money over the course of a year.
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Instructions
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Purchase and utilize only a certified universal density cotton gin. This is a machine that is tailor-made to compress cotton into the prescribed density with accuracy and consistency. Although it might cost more money than a generic or non-standardized cotton gin, the machine will pay for itself by reducing the number of penalties faced for underweight bales.
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Set the gin to produce bales of at least 28 pounds per cubic foot. This will provide you with a reasonable compression ratio that will enable the cotton bales to be produced to a standard weight without being overly cumbersome.
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Set the gin to produce bales that are between 54 and 55 inches in length and between 20 and 21 inches in width. When combined with the aforementioned compression ratio, this will enable you to consistently produce cotton bales that weigh 500lbs, safely above the penalty limit.
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Tips & Warnings
Leaving a little headroom between the weight of your bales and the overall weight limit is important to allow for natural fluctuations in the manufacturing process, saving you the cost of a penalty fee if the machine happens to produce a one-off underweight bale.
