Cotton grows in many Southern states of the US. It is harvested by cotton pickers that remove the cotton from bolls and store it in trailers. The cotton is then compressed into modules and transported to cotton gins where it is separated from seeds. The fibers are spun into thread and woven or knitted into fabrics for clothing. Byproducts of cotton include cottonseed oil, livestock feed, and fertilizer.

1. COTTON
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THE STORY OF COTTON

2. THE STORY OF COTTON

3. Products and Byproducts of Cotton
Cotton
Lint Cotton Seed
Fabric, Yarn Cotton Seed Oil Hulls
Refined Cooking Oil Fertilizer
Rubber, Plastics Livestock Feed
Glycerin
Explosives
Soap, Cosmetics
THE STORY OF COTTON

4. Where Does Cotton Grow?
Top Cotton Producing States
12%
14% TX
44%
MS
GA
AR
13% CA
17%
Number of bales in millions. Source: National Cotton Council of America
THE STORY OF COTTON

5. Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia
, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri,
New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South
Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
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6. Cotton Production
in Millions of Bales
Texas 4.92 Arizona 0.57
Mississippi 1.88 Alabama 0.57
Arkansas 1.61 Oklahoma 0.19
Georgia 1.54 South Carolina 0.13
California 1.41 Virginia 0.09
Tennessee 0.79 Florida 0.07
North Carolina 0.78 Kansas 0.06
Louisiana 0.75 New Mexico 0.04
Missouri 0.58
THE STORY OF COTTON

7. Millions of acres of cotton grow
across the Southern United States
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8. THE STORY OF COTTON

9. Cotton Pickers or Brush Strippers
move through the cotton field
harvesting cotton off six or eight
rows of cotton at a time. The
cotton is stored in baskets above
the harvester and then dumped
into a cotton trailer when the
basket is full.
THE STORY OF COTTON

10. THE STORY OF COTTON

11. THE STORY OF COTTON

12. The cotton is transferred
from the cotton trailers to a
module builder.
THE STORY OF COTTON

13. THE STORY OF COTTON

14. The module builder
compresses the cotton to
form a module (compactly
pressed block) of cotton.
A module holds 12-14
bales of cotton.
THE STORY OF COTTON

15. THE STORY OF COTTON

16. The modules are hauled to a
cotton gin or to the gin’s
storage yard by a module
mover.
THE STORY OF COTTON

17. THE STORY OF COTTON

18. THE STORY OF COTTON

19. The cotton fiber is separated
from the cottonseed at the gin.
The cotton is vacuumed into
tubes that carry it to a dryer to
reduce moisture and improve
the fiber quality. Cleaning
equipment removes leaf
trash, sticks and other foreign
THE STORY OF COTTON
matter.

20. THE STORY OF COTTON

21. The seed is sent to a
cottonseed oil mill where it
is processed.
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22. THE STORY OF COTTON

23. Cotton Seed Oil
Cottonseed Oil
Mill
The cottonseed oil is used in many products you use
The Cotton Seed is separated from the lint at the cotton gin
Cottonseedcooked and pressed to separate the oil
seed is
Oil
THE STORY OF COTTON

24. The fiber (or lint) is compressed
into bales, banded with eight
steel straps, sampled for
classing or grading, wrapped
for protection then loaded onto
trucks for shipment to storage
yards, or textile mills.
THE STORY OF COTTON

25. THE STORY OF COTTON

26. Cotton bales are 55 inches
tall, 28 inches wide, and 21
inches thick, and weigh
around 500 pounds. One
bale is enough cotton to
make 325 pairs of jeans.
THE STORY OF COTTON

27. THE STORY OF COTTON

28. Textile mills purchase cotton
bales from gins or cotton
warehouses. The mills start
with raw cotton and process it
in stages until it produces yarn
fibers twisted into threads
used in weaving of cloth. The
cloth is dyed and cleaned, and
shipped to clothing producers.
THE STORY OF COTTON

29. Cotton Video
THE STORY OF COTTON