THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 27, 1994 TAG: 9409270288
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By JODY R. SNIDER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SOUTHAMPTON COUNTY LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
More and more, farmers across the state are realizing that life as a cotton picker ain't so bad.
In fact, life as a cotton ginner ain't too bad, either.
In the past year, Virginia cotton acreage has almost doubled, from 22,000 acres to 42,000, and could be worth $18 million this year. Next year, the white boll will produce even more green for farmers when an estimated 60,000 acres of cotton is planted in Virginia.
G. Thomas Alphin Jr., co-owner of Commonwealth Gin in Windsor, is looking to cash in on the cotton boom. Alphin, along with his parents, G. Thomas and Betty Alphin, and brother Len, plans to spend $2 million to build the state's third gin. To be located in Southampton County, the gin is scheduled to be running by October 1995, with a capacity of 40,000 bales per year.
A bale of cotton weighs about 500 pounds and sells for about $350. Gins remove seeds stems and other residue farmers call ``trash.''
The first commercial gin to operate in the state since cotton's comeback was the Southside Gin, near Emporia, built in 1991. In 1992, Alphin and his family spent $3.5 million to build Commonwealth Gin in Windsor.
``It's not in the barn, yet,'' Alphin said, ``but we're expecting between 25,000 to 30,000 bales this year to be ginned'' - compared to last year's 17,000 bales.
And that's also approaching the gin's capacity of 40,000 bales. More acreage planted in cotton in Virginia next year would exceed the gin's capacity, Alphin said.
``Half the (cotton) that comes to the Commonwealth Gin, comes from Southampton growers right now,'' he said. ``A gin in Southampton County would allow us to service both areas well.''
In Emporia, Southside Gin will also run close to the 40,000-bale capacity this year, with the 10,000 acres of cotton that comes from North Carolina, said manager Chris Pope.
``North Carolina has gone from 385,000 acres to 485,000 acres since
last year,'' Pope said. ``Our production levels have increased because of that.
``However, next year, the three gins should be able to handle a total of 80,000 acres of cotton. Once we get that, someone will be looking at putting up a fourth gin.''
Southampton County leads the state in planted cotton with 17,600 acres grown by 70 farmers. Last year, only 7,900 acres were grown by 50 farmers in the county, said the county's Extension Service agent, Wes C. Alexander.
``Peanuts are still king, but cotton may be becoming the queen,'' he said.
``Farmers here are looking at cotton as an alternative to corn in the rotation of peanuts. As cotton acreage increases, corn acreage will decrease,'' Alexander said.
When Alphin sent a gin representative to the Northern Neck of Virginia about a month ago, 60 corn farmers attended a meeting to get more information on growing cotton, he said. Seven farmers already grow cotton there.
``That says that cotton is a viable alternative,'' Alphin said. ``And as varieties are bred for a shorter growing season, it may mean that all of Virginia will be growing cotton.''
Compared to last year's yield of 600 pounds per acre, farmers expect a good year this year with yields predicted between 750 to 800 pounds per acre, or 1 1/2 bales of cotton per acre.
Last year's cotton crop was valued at $9 million and it ranked eighth in the state, said Jim Lawson, deputy state statistician for the Virginia Agricultural Statistics Service in Richmond. It could be double that this year.
``This year, it will at least hold that ranking,'' Lawson said, ``and because the acreage of cotton has almost doubled, it could exceed potatoes as the seventh leading cash crop.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
JOHN H. SHEALLY II/STAFF
G. Thomas Alphin Jr., co-owner of Commonwealth Gin in Windsor, shows
grades of cotton to farmers Jay Darden, center, and Les Everett, who
grow the crop. Sheltered from the rain, Alphin and local farmers
surveyed a seed storage unit, under construction, from the dry
confines of a building that houses the gin.
Graphic
COTTON FIELDS
SOURCE: The Virginia Agricultural Statistics Service in Richmond.
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
by CNB