Wesley M. Porter,
Associate Professor and Extension Ag Engineer
University of Georgia
While this production season has seemed to be spread out across multiple months in the beginning, we are reaching that time of year that Camp Hand likes to say “The smell of Folex is in the air”. It’s easy to recognize that smell if you have spent any time around the cotton especially during the fall. While irrigation termination and defoliation bring their own challenges here we are going to focus specifically on the harvest itself. While at this time I have not seen many pickers out in the fields I have seen many fields that have been defoliated and are looking “ripe for the picking”. Now a majority of our cotton is harvested with on-board module building pickers. While it may not seem like a big issue, one of our fiber quality problems that starts when the cotton pickers move into the fields through unwrapping of round cotton modules at the gin is plastic contamination. Currently, there are three commercially available module wrap suppliers that have met the ASABE S615.2 Round Module Wrap for Seed Cotton Certification and Standard (Approved Round Module Wrap Products (cotton.org)). The three suppliers are Tama USA Inc., S and K Packaging, and Langston Co. More information can be found on each one of the offerings of each one of these companies, but it is important to note that there are many more manufacturers and suppliers providing round module wrap material on the market that have not met the ASABE S615.2 standard. We highly recommend that you utilized only module wraps that have met the ASABE standard (FINAL-RMW-Standard-flyer.pdf (cotton.org)). For the module wrap to be approved it is tested in three main categories which include laboratory testing, field testing and wrap color.
There are recommendations that have both been researched and published by industry. For example according to Tama USA there are three main categories during harvest that handling the module are critical which include handling, transportation, and unwrapping (https://www.tama-usa.com/tamawrap-for-cotton/tamawrap-blue/tamawrap-blue-for-cotton/):
During handling, the module should not be dragged on the ground or across stalks during staging, if using a rear back or front loader with the forked loading attachments ensure arms are completely on the ground before opening and closing to avoid “over squeezing”, during transportation using a Module truck, the diameter should not exceed 100 inches in size (a recommended harvester monitor set size is 92 inches), ensure recommended chains are used on module trucks, if other trucks or trailers are used ensure there are no sharp edges or objects that can tear the wrap material, and during unwrapping at the gin, extra care is required, examine the module for any lose pieces of plastic or other contaminants and remove them, use the Tama Cut Indicator™ to locate the cutting zone, make one clean cut and not multiple cuts, remove all pieces of wrap after unwrapping or cutting.
It is important to know that during the 2022 harvest season, yellow, pink, blue, and then black plastic were the highest levels of plastic contamination (Figure 1).
Figure 1. USDA AMS Classing Office plastic calls by color for the 2022 crop (Source E. Barnes Cotton Inc).
It is important to note that a plastic contamination call falls within the Extraneous Matter category. While when looking at overall Extraneous Matter calls for 2022, they ranked, Bark, Grass, Seedcoat, and then plastic in that order. It should be noted that of the total Extraneous Matter calls plastic only accounted for 0.61%. Overall, this number is very low, but if you are the one who gets discounted for a plastic call it can be detrimental. Ensure that you utilize approved wrap and follow all guidelines during harvest, staging, transportation, and opening at the Gin. For more information on the ASABE S615.2 standard and general plastic wrap contamination prevention please visit the National Cotton Council’s website at https://www.cotton.org/tech/quality/contamfree.cfm.
On-Board Module Weighing System
One other item to discuss during the harvest season is the on-board handler module weighing system. This system can be a valuable tool to be used by Extension, farmers, industry and researchers to obtain accurate in-field module weights. However, if you plan to use the system for any type of comparison please go through the calibration procedure. You should perform this calibration procedure at least on an annual basis. It should be performed with the accumulator empty and the machine at idle. A very short video on the calibration procedure can be found at https://www.planthealthexchange.org/cotton/Pages/GROW-COT-10-20-271.aspx. Additionally, to this video I was fortunate enough to have led a national effort a few years ago on the performance of the system. We were able to incorporate over 800 comparisons of the on-board system to field scales. The results of this study can be found here: https://iipa.uga.edu/docs/iipa/presentations/Porter-On-Board-Module-Weight-Evaluation-2022-Beltwide-Cotton-Conf.pdf. I would recommend that this system not be utilized for data that you plan to publish, but it is an excellent in field trial evaluation tool.
While harvest is a busy time of year and we are trying to finalize the season remember a few critical things such as reducing module contamination and the ability to weigh your modules during harvest. Also, keep farm safety at the forefront of your mind during the long days on the machines. As always, if you have any questions about anything you have read here or anything else associated with cotton harvest please reach out to either your local UGA County Extension Agent or the Georgia Cotton Commission and we will get you the information you need. Hopefully this article helps you some during harvest, I pray for a safe and timely harvest for everyone.