1. Harvesting cotton in Australia
By Jesse

2. 1. Machinery used to Harvest Cotton
Using a cotton picker; or spindle picker to harvest your cotton will result in a large round bale of cotton lint mixed with seed, which will be ready for further processing. As the cotton picker traverses the field rotating rows of barbed spindles in the machine will remove the seed-cotton, as the entire boll from the plant. This will then transfer to the doffer which rotates in the opposite direction and blows; or doffs; the cotton to a collecting basket. Once the basket is full the seed-cotton is transferred to the round baling section or module builder which acts like a large trash compactor that compresses the seed-cotton into a large cube. This can then be stored in a warehouse to await cleaning with a cotton gin.

3. 2. How Cotton Picking Machines Work
The cotton picker is a self-propelled machine that removes cotton lint and seed (seed-cotton) from the plant at up to six rows at a time.

4. 3. When cotton plants should be harvested
Inside the boll, which is shaped like a tiny football, moist fibers grow and push out from the newly formed seeds. As the boll ripens, it turns brown. The fibers continue to expand under the warm  sun. Finally, they split the boll apart and the fluffy cotton bursts forth. It looks like white cotton candy. It is only when this stage occurs that the cotton plant is ready to be harvested.

5. 4. Defoliation Defoliation means to strip a plant of its leaves.
Once the cotton crop has matured and ripened, it is treated with a defoliant before it can be harvested. Defoliant is applied to the cotton plants to help the green leaves dry and fall off and to help any of the un-opened cotton bolls to open. This creates less contamination in the cotton samples. Once defoliated, the cotton is ready to harvest.

6. 5. Different types of Cotton Bales/Modules
Cotton is picked and put into rounds or module bales.
Then the cotton is placed into the irrigation drains.
Cotton should be insured
When cotton is transported on trucks it is weighed on a weigh bridge.
The gin needs to make sure they have adequate space for the bales of cotton which they are receiving from the farmers.
The gin will gin the cotton in the order of when the cotton was received.
Farmers will receive a statement that has the number of bales, the merchant details and quality details.

7. 6. Management of Cotton Harvesting in the Lachlan/ Forbes District
Auscott – Gin and manage the marketing of the cotton.
Farmers are given grower bags, which include tickets that have details of how many hectares, which variety of cotton it is, and a ginning statement that has the farmer’s preferred ginning order.

8. 7. Quality Testing Cotton
The Australian classers and shippers association grade and manage the sale of the cotton, including the exporting of the cotton

9. 8. Quality criteria for Cotton
Cotton is graded on numerous quality criteria. These include;
Colour- reflectiveness is important. There is a discount if it is yellower. Colour is affected by growing and picking timing.
Leaf foreign matter – the gin can assist with removing foreign matter like leaf and seeds. This is controlled by effective defoliation at the correct timing.
Strength.
Micronair– a measure of fibre fineness and maturity.
Auscott has a premium and discount schedule.
Testing of quality criteria is less subjective and is mostly done mechanically.
Australian cotton is valued for its low contamination staple length, strength and micronaire.

10. Bibliography 1. 2. 3. 4.