By Marlee Jackson

Once a staple in communities across Alabama, just 22 cotton gins roared to life this fall separating fluffy white lint from seed.

“This is the last gin standing (in Limestone County),” said Billy Sickler over the mechanical rumble of four gin stands in late October.

Sickler, a veteran ginner, is manager at Associated Growers Cooperative Inc. in Athens. He estimates Limestone County alone was home to 15 gins when he joined the ginning industry in 1998. 

By 2011, there were 30 statewide. 

Gin consolidation, land development and a deflated market mean the number of gins has continued to decline. Foreign cotton production and the popularity of synthetic fabrics haven’t helped, Sickler said.

“Trying to get farmers to plant cotton is hard,” Sickler said. “It’s a lot of ifs, ands and buts.”

That’s partially due to cotton’s finicky nature and need for constant attention. Input costs quickly add up in today’s tough farm economy, causing some farmers to turn away from king cotton and toward grains and soybeans, said Limestone County Farmers Federation President Jerry Allen Newby.

“It’s a culmination of things,” said Newby, a row cropper who serves on the Alabama Farmers Federation State Cotton Committee. “It just costs so much more to produce an acre of cotton that many don’t want to extend themselves.”

Alabama’s cotton acreage reflects that shift.

So do national numbers.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports decreased acreage for 15 of the 17 major cotton-producing states. The most recent forecast predicts American farmers planted 10.1 million acres, a 10% decrease from 2024.

In Alabama, cotton acres dropped to 340,000 acres — a 60,000-acre, or 15%, decline.

While painfully low market prices hover in the mid-60 cents per pound, other factors outside farmers’ control contribute to the slump.

“The drought last year smoked us,” Newby said. “It ate up a lot of goodwill in one year.”

Yields often vary from one corner of Alabama to another, said Federation Cotton Division Director Carla Hornady. 2023, however, delivered a bumper crop across much of the state.

Then, 2024 served up a monster drought that hammered yields. A wet spring that stretched into early summer delayed planting this year. Many cotton fields were again fried by a late-summer drought that reduced yields in pockets around the state.

Other areas received timely rains that resulted in a fruitful harvest, Hornady said.

“While some yields are strong, low prices make it difficult for the math to add up,” she said. “It’ll be interesting to see how farmers react.”

It’s a roller coaster, Sickler said.

“We’ll lose some acres and some farmers,” Sickler predicted. “This crop was hard to get financed. This year didn’t turn out how (many) hoped.”

A tough year and decreased acres mean the U.S. will have less cotton to market at home and overseas, Hornady said.

That’s tough news as foreign powerhouses Brazil, China and India have already surpassed U.S. production. Last year, the U.S. produced 13.1 million bales, per USDA. Most were exported to foreign textile mills as American textile producers have continued to dwindle.

American mills bought just 1.8 million bales in the last marketing year — the lowest level since 1884/1885 when textile mills used 1.7 million bales.

When the gin fired up Oct. 1, Sickler knew they’d process around 12,000 fewer bales than last year. Those 50,000 bales will come from around 26,000 acres of production, also lower than last year’s 33,000 acres.

That’s a 25% decrease.

Other gins have lost as much as 60% of acreage due to prevented planting, low markets and farmer retirement, Hornady said.

While current numbers could be concerning, Sickler said some north Alabama farmers are already planning a return to cotton. That’s due to individual crop rotation needs, a drop in cotton picker prices, a turbulent wheat market and soybean prices.

It just might spell good news for gins, especially those that have invested in technological advancements.

“Without a farmer staying in business, what’s a gin? It’s a paperweight,” Sickler said. “My mind is already to next year. (This) story has already been written.”