Fred Couch's customers at Rabbit Ridge Gin in Lepanto, Ark., don't fully understand how the powered paddle roll technology in the gin works, or that it increases capacity for the facility. All they know is that they've seen an improvement in turnout and staple length since the technology was installed three years ago.

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Early users say the Power Roller Gin Stand can add up to an extra bale of cotton per module ginned.

The new Power Roll Gin Stand is having marketing issues. The biggest of these is that it falls into the "too good to be true" category. But for those ginners who have been willing to take a leap of faith, the stand is proving to be a money maker for them and their grower customers.

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COURTLAND — Bobby Greene walked over the massive piece of equipment in the ginning warehouse here at Servico.

He looked through one of the observation windows on the equipment, turned around and smiled.

"This is the most revolutionary thing in the cotton industry in the past 40 or 50 years," Greene said, referring to the new Power Roll Gin Stand.

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MOBILE, Ala. (AP) - Cotton processors hope a new cotton gin device being tested in Alabama and four other states will provide savings to cover the cost of the equipment, which agriculture officials say is the first innovation in the ginning process in decades.

The new Power Roll Gin Stand is capable of getting all the long lint into the cotton bale at high ginning rates. It removes 5 to 7 percent more lint from the seeds than comparable equipment, according to research.

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Lubbock newspaper editorial - Nov 3, 2003

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY continues to help American agriculture producers to become better farmers. The latest innovation is an improvement to the cotton ginning process that will remove more lint from cotton seeds.

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New technology is rolling into cotton gins and could put more money into producers' pockets. With the funding assistance of Cotton Incorporated, the Power Roll Gin Stand was developed and now is being installed in gins throughout the Cotton Belt by PRT Marketing, LLC.

Described as the first truly revolutionary redesign of the cotton gin stand since the original invention by Eli Whitney in 1794 and...

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September 15, 2003 - McCullough, Alabama

It was a "relatively smooth start -- as far as start-ups go," remarked Tim Currie of Frank Currie Gin in McCullough, Alabama as the seed fingers turned and seed rained down from the bottom of his new Power Roll Gin Stand. This new technology was added as a conversion piece on his Continental 161 gin stands. In a recent letter to his producers Mr. Currie described this innovation as the "greatest technological advance in the cotton ginning industry in 40 years."

For the 2003 season versions of this new innovation will be running in several locations across the cotton belt. The majority of the conversions this year will be installed on Continental brand gin stands since much research was done on that model last year. The technology will also be adapted to run on other gin stand models such as Lummus, Consolidated, and Murray.

As everyone in the cotton ginning industry knows, "startup" as the first day of the season is called is always a challenge after all of the various parts of the gin have been sitting idle for several months. A brand new piece of equipment always must be broken in before it runs to full capacity. Mr. Currie explained that "a couple of small glitches were worked through" to get it to operate smoothly since the control system and some design features were being tried on his model of gin stand for the first time. "But at this point we are already getting excited and looking forward to the benefits which this technology should provide to the gin and our producers."

The Power Roll Gin Stand is a revolutionary redesign of the cotton gin stand developed by the USDA Agricultural Research Service through research originally targeted for delinting seed for coating in the EasiFlo ® process. It has shown benefits which should provide a significant boost to the bottom line of cotton producers and gins in the form of higher turnout, capacity, and potential improvements to fiber properties. In testing in the USDA lab over the last several years and at Servico Gin in Courtland, Alabama last year it showed a boost in turnout in the range of 30 pounds per bale.

Russell Laird of PRT Marketing, LLC which is marketing the new technology under a patent license agreement with USDA explained that, "It doesn't take very complicated math to show a producer how much money 30 more pounds per bale will put into his pocket." Having the technology at the various locations where it will be running this year will allow for experience with the various conditions of cotton around the cotton belt and on all of the major models of gin stands being run in modern gins. "We are very fortunate to have an excellent set of gins to work with as cooperators in moving the technology forward," says Laird.

On September 17th, another conversion of a Continental 161 model was to start operating at McClendon, Mann, and Felton Gin in Marianna, Arkansas. Operated by Larry McClendon who received the "Cotton Marketer of the Year" award by the New York Board of Trade in 2002 this gin turned out over 100,000 bales last year.

Below are listed the locations where this innovative new technology will be operating for the 2003 season and the model of gin stand which it will be operating on. Miles Coop Gin - Miles, Texas - Continental 141
Coastal Bend Coop Gin - Corpus Christi, Texas - Continental 141
Rabbit Ridge Gin - Lepanto, Arkansas - Continental 141
Covington Gin - Andalusia, Alabama - Continental 141
McLendon, Mann, and Felton Gin - Marianna, Arkansas - Continental 161
Frank Currie Gin - Atmore, Alabama - Continental 161
Servico - Courtland, Alabama - Continental 141
Midnight Gin - Midnight, Mississippi - Murray 142/18
MADH Gin - Selma, Alabama - Continental 141
Minturn Coop Gin - Chowchilla, California - Lummus 158
Olton Coop Gin - Olton, Texas - Consolidated 164

TOTAL RUNNING IN 2003:
11 Gins - 18 stands
12 Continental 141's
3 Continental 161's
1 Lummus 158
1 Consolidated 164
1 Murray 142

For more information about the Power Roll Gin Stand visit www.powerrollginstand.com or call PRT Marketing at 800-346-4283.