Bogue Chitto Cotton Gin provides accessibility, opportunity for farmers
NOXUBEE COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – It’s harvest time in North Mississippi, and farmers are working hard to get crops out of the field and onto processing. In Noxubee County, the Bogue Chitto Cotton Gin is hard at work cleaning and separating its 12th cotton crop since its opening.
From the fields to the gin, harvest season is in full swing at the Bogue Chitto Gin in Noxubee County.
General Manager Aaron Litwiller said the gin processes cotton for over 100 farmers.
“We clean it, separate the lint from the seed, and we pack that lint into a 500-pound bale that gets sent to a warehouse and eventually milled to be made into clothing and different items,” Litwiller said.
Since its opening in 2012, the gin has been able to grow and serve several surrounding counties and parts of Alabama.
About 75% of the gin’s customers come from a 25-mile radius, and the opening of Bogue Chitto allowed farmers to add to their crops.
“It gave them [farmers] the opportunity to have that diversity on their farm and raise cotton. And it’s been helpful to this community because there is a lot of trucking. A lot of work and parts go into a cotton gin. So, the numbers that are always said is that cotton turns a dollar about seven times. Whereas some of the grain only turns about one time,” Litwiller said.
The gin allowed Farmers to not only make money but also save money.
“I think with transportation costs as high as they are, having a local gin that right here that they can stop in, check how things are going, check on their cotton, and the process of what their cotton is being ginned. I think they do appreciate that. And it’s nice to work within the community,” Litwiller said.
During ginning season, the gin operates 24 hours a day to process the cotton.
Litwiller said they want to take in about 80,000 bales of cotton this year. And so far, the dry weather has been helpful to its customers.
“We have an average crop but we have a lot to be thankful for. We have had dry weather. So, it has allowed the farmers to get cotton out of the field in a timely manner and get fieldwork done for next year. We’ve got a lot to be thankful for. The Lord has really blessed us,” Litwiller said.
The crew at Bogue Chitto Gin is planning to hit a big milestone this week.
In the next day or two, they will process their 1 millionth bale of cotton.
