2019 Ginner Schools Registration Now Open

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – U.S. certified ginners, gin managers and superintendents are urged to register for one of the 2019 Ginner Schools.

School locations and dates are: Southwest Ginners School at the South Plains Ginning Laboratory in Lubbock, Texas, on April 1-3; Western Ginners School at the Southwest Ginning Research Laboratory in Mesilla Park, N.M., on May 7-9; and Stoneville Ginners School at the USDA Ginning Laboratory in Stoneville, Miss., on June 4-6.

Credit cards can be used to pay for registration. Online registration and course descriptions are at www.cotton.org/ncga/ginschool/index.cfm. The schools will continue to offer the Levels I, II and III of course instruction as well as continuing education courses.

The three schools' programming is coordinated by the National Cotton Ginners' Association (NCGA), working in conjunction with USDA’s Greg Holt and the three USDA ginning laboratories.

NCGA Executive Vice President Harrison Ashley said programming for Levels I, II and III will feature practical information on all aspects of ginning. Among topics to be covered are seed cotton drying/cleaning through the ginning process and gin waste disposal methods. He said the schools' overall emphasis will be on increasing ginning efficiency, turning out high quality fiber and, as always, a focus on improving safety.

The Ginner Schools' Continuing Education Courses will include topics such as increasing capacities, gin efficiencies, drying and precleaning, gin monitoring/automation, electrical and electrical safety, and plastic contamination/detection.

School cooperators include: USDA's Agricultural Research Service, NCGA and its member associations, the National Cotton Council, Cotton Incorporated, gin machinery/equipment manufacturers and suppliers, and select land grant universities.