NAMOI Cotton is thrilled with the improvement in safety and efficiency outcomes as a result of a recent $2.4 million upgrade to its gin at Trangie, in the heart of the Macquarie Valley cotton growing region in Central West NSW.
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The gin upgrades have quickened up ginning and improved cotton quality outcomes in what company officials believe will be a great boost to cotton producers in the region.
Gin manager Mark Russell said some of the features of the improved facility included an automated bagger and a fixed head module feeder.
"The module feeder will be a particularly big boost for safety," he said.
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"The process now essentially isolates the machine and the staff which will help keep everybody safe."
After the last few wet seasons the ability to dry cotton effectively has been a major priority.
Mr Russell said alterations to the drying process would allow Namoi to clean and dry cotton more effectively.
"We'll be using less air, less gas, it is going to be a lot more efficient."
He said the cleaning capabilities would allow a boost to final cotton quality.
"We can probably bring five leaf cotton standard up to a four leaf, it would be something like improving ASW wheat to APW."
"You are not able to do anything with colour problems but we'll be able to grade more of the trash in the sample out, which I think will be something the growers really appreciate."
Post-ginning Mr Russell said the automatic bagger had helped take some of the manual labour out of the process.
"We used to have three people in bagging, now it can be done autonomously and there is just someone in there taking samples and keeping an eye on things, it will be a lot more efficient."
Mr Russell said he was confident the improvements would help win customer share in a competitive region.
"There is another gin here in Trangie and there is also a facility at Warren not too far away so we really have to provide a good service in order to win a share of the cotton."
He said there was good underlying confidence in the cotton sector.
"The farmers are looking like having a pretty good season here once again, and while so much depends on the season and how much of an allocation there, generally we're seeing a little bit more planted in the good seasons, people are comfortable with their ability to grow the crop in this part of the world."
While there was a smaller plant in the Central West due to the big wet of 2022, which meant paddock access was an issue early reports from 2023 picking are that there are good yields and good quality for much of the area.
Warm conditions through critical months in February and March have helped crop development.