The cotton industry is a big one especially in Georgia. According to the Dooly County Gin in Lilly, they have the largest gin stands in the state.
A gin stand separates cotton seed from the fiber. And Dooly County Gin has two.
"It has a capacity of 30 bails per hour. We have two of these in here, so theoretically we have a 60 bales per hour ginning capacity," said Jerry Scarborough, with Cherokee, the manufacturer.
Before cotton even reaches the gin stands, truckers haul it in from the farm, and get it weighed and tagged with the farmers information.
Once it enters the factory, wrapping around the cotton is removed by the round-up.
Then it drops into a machine, which regulates how much cotton goes into the gin stands.
"Once the cotton comes out of the module feeder, it goes through cleaning and drying, and it goes through two stages of that," said Scarborough.
The cotton then goes into the gin stands.
Dooly's ginner, Pat Ritter, has been one for 20 years.
He usually works out of King Ranch in Texas, but since they had no cotton this season he is at Dooly.
"It's exciting to get cotton in and get it out," he said.
Ritter monitors the entire process.
"When it comes in we need to know the moisture, we need to get the heat right to clean it, we're monitoring speed," said Ritter.
The seed that is separated from the fiber is often used as cow feed.
The fiber is sent to a condenser, then a press, is put into a bale and is ready for shipment.
Manager Allen Coleman said the cotton goes all around the world.
"We ship cotton anywhere in the U.S. and the places like Pakistan, China and India," he said.
