Plains Cotton Cooperative Association (PCCA), Lubbock, Texas, plans to build a warehouse in
Liberal, Kan., to serve Kansas cotton producers. The seven-acre covered facility will store 65,000
bales of cotton, and is expected to be filled to capacity by Kansas growers.
“Cotton is rapidly becoming an important industry in southern sections of Kansas,” said Steve
Kelly, deputy secretary, Kansas Department of Commerce. “We are pleased to help develop this
growing industry by offering assistance to [PCCA] to encourage its location of a warehouse in
Seward County.”
According to PCCA, cotton production in Kansas has grown steadily over the last 10 years. In
2003, Kansas and northern Oklahoma growers planted 92,900 acres and produced 111,500 bales. By the
end of the decade, that production is expected to increase to 500,000 bales.
“[N]early 100 percent of the cotton produced in [Kansas and Oklahoma] is warehoused and
marketed through the cooperative,” said Dick Cooper, director of business development for Kansas
and northern Oklahoma, PCCA. “The new warehouse facility will save approximately $5 per bale in
transportation, and it will put more money in the pockets of Kansas cotton producers.”
November 2004
