Cotton gins across the Texas Panhandle are set to receive $22.8 million in grant funding aimed at strengthening infrastructure that producers and merchandisers say is critical to getting the crop processed on time.

The allotment, provided through Plains Cotton Growers and Kody Bessent as the state of Texas provides funds, will support several infrastructure projects at cotton gins throughout the High Plains and South Plains.

Barry Evans, a cotton producer, said gins are essential to moving cotton from the field into the supply chain.

“The farmer, it’s important to have the infrastructure in place, and for cotton that’s a cotton gin; that’s where all the cotton goes, that’s where it’s processed, and the fiber and seed are separated, and to go from there to the warehouse,” Evans said. “If you don’t have the infrastructure in place, then you can’t get your cotton ginned timely, and that is so critical to get done.”

Brent Wilhelm, a cotton and grain merchandiser for Skyland Grain, said the work inside a gin is demanding and equipment needs frequent replacement.

“The gins have a lot of moving parts; it’s big on airflow, just a lot of moving parts, so there’s a lot of parts that get worn every year, so they need to get replaced every year,” Wilhelm said.

The funding comes as prospects for the 2026 growing season have improved after a dry start. Evans said conditions looked grim earlier in the spring.

“In the middle of May we were so terribly dry we didn’t have subsoil moisture. I didn’t know if we were going to have a crop, but then we started getting rain, and we’ve had some steady rains,” Evans said. “Extremely spotty; there’s been some have and have-nots as for who got the rain.”

Cotton planted in May for the 2026 growing season is not expected to be harvested until November. The grant funding is expected to help improve the ginning process this fall and winter and for the 2027 ginning season.

The full list of cotton gins receiving grants can be found here.

Texas awards $22.8 million in grants for Panhandle cotton gin infrastructure upgrades (KVII)