Passing of Moss Perrow

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Earlier today, we lost a true gentleman and friend of this industry. Mr. Moss Perrow passed away at the age of 94

Moss was one of those guys that would never turn you down if you needed help. He was always a help and guide for me when I first started here in the 90’s. He put the industry ahead of personal interests often. While never an officer of the association, he was perennially on the board and advocated for others to rise to positions in the organization.

Moss was looked to as a leader by not just those in the state but in the region and nationally as well. When he spoke, you had no choice but to listen. I miss my conversations with Mr. Moss and I know he would keep up with what was going on in the industry well after he had retired from working at the gin.

Moss will be laid to rest on Monday, October 28 at 11 AM. The family will receive friends from 4-6 PM on Sunday at the Dukes Harley Funeral Home in Orangeburg, SC.

A link to a full obituary will be added to this post as soon as we get it.

We’ll all miss you Mr. Moss.

Full Obituary: https://www.dukesharleyfuneralhome.com/obituary/moss-perrow-sr

NCC and the USDA a 4-Bale Module Averaging Pilot Project

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In partnership with the National Cotton Council (NCC), USDA is piloting a program for the 2024-2025 cotton crop that will allow bales to be shipped in four-bale groupings that use averaged quality data. These groupings of four bales or multiples of four bales will carry the same official USDA classing data for all eight quality factors in an effort to make the flow of cotton into the marketplace more efficient.

The program is completely voluntary and can be tried on one or multiple modules at any time during the season. For more information, stakeholders can view a list of technical frequently asked questions or reach out to any one of the 10 regional cotton classing officesor to the Cotton Grading Division leadership of Robert Seals, Jr., Director, Robert.Seals@usda.gov or Byron Cole, Deputy Director, Byron.Cole@usda.gov.

Resources

Universal Standards Conference Held in Memphis

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One of the functions of the USDA AMS Classing Office is to maintain the world wide accepted standards for cotton quality. Although all cotton in the US is classed using the HVI instruments, the quality standards are based on physical samples of cotton maintained at the USDA. Those physical standards for leaf, and grade are maintained in refrigerated storage at the USDA headquarters lab in Memphis. A duplicate (reserve) is maintained in locked storage at the National Cotton Council.

From time to time those standards are reviewed and agreed upon by all segments of the US industry as well as representatives from a number of other countries that have treaties with the US on the maintenance of cotton standards. This Universal Standards Conference was held the last week of June this year.

Southeastern Cotton Ginners President, Ben Evans, was among the ginners that reviewed the standards and was the spokesperson for the Producer / Ginner segment.

Thanks to the hard work of the USDA staff and the planning that went in to the conference, it went very smoothly. We would like to express our appreciation to the USDA AMS for organizing the conference celebrating 100 years of cotton classing.

More information on the conference can be found at: https://www.ams.usda.gov/event/30th-universal-cotton-standards-conference

Georgia Labor Relations Forum – Mark Your Calendar

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The Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Association (GFVA) has held their Labor Forum in November for several years. This year, they’ve moved it to August. Since November is bad for most row crop producers and of course ginners, this move is quite welcome. It should allow more of our members to attend.

Andy and I have attended this forum for a number of years and have been sponsors for some time. We hope you’ll take some time to check out the web site and consider registering for the Forum. Although it is targeted at H-2A users, both H-2A and non-H-2A employers will find something in this program. As the program develops, the site will include the speakers and topics.

Mark your calendars today and see the attached Flyer.

Ag-Labor-Print-Flyer-1Download

Successful Southern Gin School Held in Tifton, GA

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One of the largest Southern Gin Schools in some time took place last week in Tifton, GA. For the first time in memory, the Southern Gin School took place somewhere other than Stoneville. Last year, Southeastern Cotton Ginners formally asked the National Cotton Ginners and USDA to look into the feasibility of holding a full gin school in our region. The pieces started falling into place late last year to hold the school in Tifton, GA utilizing both the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and the University of Georgia Facilities to teach the school with ABAC being the HOST facility in their brand new Ag Technology Building.

The nearly 125 students and instructors came from 11 states and 30+ gins. Southeastern Staff taught classes in safety and labor issues. Instructors from many vendors, suppliers, USDA and other organizations taught the bulk of the lessons. A HUGE Thanks goes to the all those instructors and especially UGA and ABAC for the use of the facilities and their staff for taking care of the students and instructors for the week.

NCGA and USDA only committed for one year. It will be back in Stoneville next year, but the success should allow having the school in the SE at some time in the future. Thank you to all the participated and all that were instructors.

  • Gin School pictures

Passing of Fred Powell

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It is with deep sadness that from time to time that we let our membership and friends know of the passing of one of our members. This is one of those times. Fred Powell with The Cotton Gin in Lenox, GA passed away on Saturday

Fred was a long-time member of this organization and a friend to all. He was well liked among ginners across the region and was well respected for his agronomic skill and understanding the way cotton grew. He was always the person I would turn to when yields were better or worse than expected. He would always call during the growing season to let me know what EXACTLY was going on with the crop. He loved ginning cotton and it showed whenever he would be around the gin.

Not only was Fred a long standing member of the organization he served as a board member whenever the opportunity arose. He never had a problem letting us know when he didn’t agree with a path we were taking nor did he hold back when he thought we were doing well. I will truly miss Fred’s counsel.

Funeral services for Fred will be tomorrow, June 11, 2024. Full obituary information below.

https://www.currentobituary.com/member/obit/285361?iframe=true&width=93%&height=120%

Or : https://www.bowen-donaldson.com/Obituaries.html