excerpts:

"One of the biggest challenges I see facing oil mills and the ginning industry is the seed derived from today's popular genetically modified varieties"

Seed weights per bale "have dropped fairly dramatically" in some areas of the country.

"These smaller seed are much more difficult to delint and dehull in the milling process, and they contain quite a bit less oil. This reduces the value of the seed to the crusher."
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Lower cottonseed weights troubling
By Hembree Brandon
Delta Farm Press, Aug 18, 2005 [shortened]
http://deltafarmpress.com/news/050818-cottonseed-weight/

BILOXI, Miss. -- In a perfect world, says Randy Dismuke, a cotton variety would satisfy everyone's demands - growers, ginners, oil mills, textile spinners, and other downstream users.

"Unfortunately, it's not a perfect world and we don't yet have a variety that's a 'perfect 10,'" the senior vice president for Delta and Pine Land Co., Scott, Miss., told members of the Southern Cotton Ginners Association at their summer conference.

The ginners, many of whom are also growers, had asked a panel of industry leaders to address the issue of why hugely popular, and widely-planted, new cotton varieties have significantly less seed turnout than conventional varieties.

Cottonseed removed in the ginning process represents a significant source of revenue to ginners, and reduced seed tonnage from newer genetically modified varieties has been cutting into their bottom line.

Also, traditionally, the seed retained by the gin has offset the cost of ginning for the grower, a scenario that's becoming more difficult to maintain as ginning costs rise and seed weights/revenues decline.

"A Cottonseed Digest study shows the 10-year trendline is down," Dismuke said, with a 14 percent decrease from 1995-96 to 2004-05. From 2003-04 to 2004-05, there was an 8 percent decline in seed yield.

Oil mill perspective

"One of the biggest challenges I see facing oil mills and the ginning industry is the seed derived from today’s popular genetically modified varieties," said Sammy Wright, vice president, Chickasha of Georgia, Tifton, Ga.

Seed weights per bale "have dropped fairly dramatically" in some areas of the country, he said.

"These smaller seed are much more difficult to delint and dehull in the milling process, and they contain quite a bit less oil. This reduces the value of the seed to the crusher."

In the Southeast, he said, "We've been averaging 300-305 pounds of oil per ton of cottonseed; now, we're down to about 280 pounds of oil.

"With 25-cent oil, that means roughly $5 to $6 less in crush value per ton of cottonseed. While that may not sound like a lot, in tight market times it can be the difference between making money and losing money. Lower seed weights also reduce the amount of seed available to ginners to convert to cash flow income."

In many cases today, returns to ginners from seed will not cover the cost of ginning, Wright said.

"How much longer can the ginning industry operate under the scenario of ginning for the seed, when the seed don’t return adequate value."

"I wish I had the answer, but I don't," he said. "I think it's safe to say, though, if we don't see a drastic change upward in seed yields, economics will force us to make some hard decisions as to how we operate our gins, or we won't be able to survive."

In 1980, Wright said, there were 74 operating oil mills in the U.S.; today, only 13. "These numbers speak to the radical change we've seen in our business."

What does this mean to ginners? "For one thing, if you're not in close proximity to a major milk shed, you'd better hope you can keep a viable oil mill presence to help consume some of that seed. If not, the fundamental laws of supply and demand can get pretty ugly."