Photo Gallery: The other side of cotton production

Mar. 14, 2013

Since 1942, Delta Oil Mill has produced cottonseed oil, cottonseed meal, cottonseed hulls, linters, cottonseed meal fertilizer, and whole cottonseed.
Cottonseed meats.
Cottonseed collets spill out of the prep room in a tube-like form. They'll be cooled and prepared for oil extraction.
Cottonseed collets.
Cottonseed collets.
Cottonseed meats.
Cottonseed hulls being dumped into a trailer for cattle feed.
A mountain of cottonseed. Delta Oil Mill buys whole cottonseed from its member gins.
Rickie Frederick, Sumerford Cotton Seed Products, Smithville, Miss., waits for his trailer to fill with hulls.
Trailer fills with cottonseed hulls. Cottonseed hulls are mainly used in the cattle industry as a source of fiber in feed rations.
Truck dump area where cottonseed trailers are emptied by member gins.
Truck dump area where cottonseed trailers are emptied by member gins.
Linters (cotton fiber removed from cottonseed) produced by Delta Oil Mill are packaged in bales and are sold in the United States and overseas.
According to Delta Oil Mill, "Linters are used in medical grade cotton products as well as in paper products and as padding for furniture. Linters processed chemically produce cellulose used in many varied applications such as gunpowder, fingernail polish and plastics."
Mountain of cottonseed meal. Beef, dairy and catfish feed are the primary uses for cottonseed meal.
Stacks of linters.
Michael Wortham, Jonestown, Miss., transporting warehouse linters.
Michael Wortham, Jonestown, Miss.
Bale wire for the linters.
Cottonseed going through cleaning process.
Gin saw being sharpened.
Gin saw being sharpened.
Gin saw teeth.
Gin saw teeth.
Gin saw teeth.
Cottonseed undergoing cleaning.
Cottonseed undergoing cleaning.
Tony Martin, Jonestown, Miss., with gin saws in background.
Gin saws.
Joe Morton, Jonestown, Miss., holds a jar of Prime Bleached Summer Yellow (PBSY) oil, and according to Delta Oil Mill, "Once fully refined, is a very popular cooking oil in the food service industry."
Joe Morton, Jonestown, Miss., with a jar of Prime Bleached Summer Yellow (PBSY) oil.
Cottonseed meal, with a protein level of 41 percent, is a source of energy and nutrition for cattle.
Edgar Jones, Helena, Ark., stands in front of pallets of cottonseed meal.
A trailer begins to fill with a load of cottonseed meal.

Cotton is more than a wonder fiber. After cotton is plucked from fields and packed in gins — cottonseed is only just beginning to be processed. Cottonseed value continues to climb, and at Delta Oil Mill, Jonestown, Miss., managed by President Scott Middleton, Jr., cottonseed processing has been rolling since 1942.