Hockley County gin tour shows students how cotton drives local economy

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - The Hockley County cotton gin opened its doors on Friday to teach high school students and community members about how cotton drives the local economy.

The chamber of commerce took visitors to tour one of four gins in the county with the largest cotton production, which produces more than 15,000 bales of cotton each week.

Their main goal was to inspire the community to stay in the county and support agriculture, the town’s most important market.

“We do have to be forward thinking and trying to maintain our population. If you lose population, you can’t maintain grocery stores or car dealerships, or banks, all the infrastructure that’s been built up over the years,” said Kerry Sider with the Texas Agri-life Extension.

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