Friday evening I met James Wilson on the Heathman Plantation, just west of Indianola, where he and his guys were picking cotton. It wasnt so long ago that I met James on a turn row while they were cutting corn and I was shooting a full moon where the RR tracks met the turn row. After shaking my hand on the RR tracks he told me about the cotton he would be picking in the next few weeks a couple of fields away. Ive shot and posted more than a couple of pics of this same field, only before the crop-duster defoliated. What can a Coast girl possibly know about picking cotton? Well only what I’ve learned through osmosis while standing in the midst of that fluffy white stuff with which I’ve had such a love affair. I’ve learned: Cotton blooms are the most beautiful color of pink. Cotton, left to its own, would continue to grow. Cotton grown in the Mississippi Delta is the best in the world. Cotton is the most expensive crop grown in the Delta. Cotton has been highly hybridized in order to ensure the most efficient growth and highest bale per acre. Cotton is not grown in a fraction of the amount that it once was in the Delta. According to the USDA Market News, the Cotton Daily Price is 63.9 US cents per pound as of October 10, 2014. Stepping into a cotton field can be a bit daunting. One must be equipped before one attempts the task. Essential gear would be leather boots, jeans, a simple cotton shirt, and the ever-important Nikon. It’s almost magical every time I step from the grassy edge into the field itself. Last night the cotton came to my waste at its lowest and above my shoulders at its peak. (For point of reference I’m 5’3”). On this night, I was invited to ride with James Wilson to where the John Deere picker was running. I got out and attempted to document most of the following: The picker runs at a pretty fast clip while the tractor pulling the trailer is never far away waiting for the picker to dump his load, only to be taken to the turn row, packed down, and left as a 32’ long and 12’ wide and deep module, weighing in at 2,240 pounds, that will be picked up by a special truck and hauled to the gin. I just wrote in one sentence what takes a few passes down a few rows in order to accomplish. Of course this process is repeated many times before a field is picked. This is just one method of cotton picking. I’ve personally documented John Deere round balers, John Deere pickers that dump loose cotton and taken to the gin in that form, and Case IH eight-row pickers that make a 16’ module. All are equally fascinating, but I find this eight-row John Deere picker my favorite thus far. Thanks to James, Chad, Milton, and all the other guys who paused and let me click my shutter. Song: Southern Girl by Amos Lee ~copyright~sarah_beaugez~cottonPickingOnHeathman~2014~
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 06:20:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015