Fields of White

Fields of White Family run Perrow Farms... Where Cotton is King

On a farm in South Carolina, cotton is king and has been a growing tradition for over 200 years. The Perrow family has farmed this 2800 acre farm, primarily growing cotton and peanuts. Three generations are currently hard at work to make it a prosperous working farm for now and the future.

To say that cotton is important to our lives is an understatement.

In the United States there is over 15 million acres of cotton planted each year.

Cotton is more than king here, it is a way of life and the livelihood for many families in the Southeast.

Farming has got to be in your blood. It is hard work and full of risks and challenges. In the end, as harvest approaches, the toil from the years work is about to payoff.

A view from the picker shows a sweet sunset and a field of white.

One of the grandsons, John is at the wheel of a $800,000 picker. Patience and technology both at work.

With 2800 acres to pick, John and Stewart keep the machines rolling.

A field bale weighs 5000 lbs.

Field bales to arriving at the gin.

After the cotton is picked and bailed, it is delivered to the gin, where the process of turning these field bales into ginned cotton in shipping bales that are ready for sale on the open market.

Cotton from the field must be ginned. It is a process of separating the seeds and debris from the cotton fibre. It is combed, dried and graded along the way.

A gin is just a collection of machines and process steps. And a lot of equipment to keep running everyday.

Cotton ginning has not changed a lot since Eli Whitney invented the process.

The whole procedure has gotten faster and added a lot of technology to the process.

Quality control is everything.

As wisps of cotton fiber fly through the air... The gin is cranking out 30 bales of cotton per hour. Each bale is over 500 lbs of cleaned and ginned cotton.

Old and new merge at the Cameron Cotton and Seed company gin.

Moving parts everywhere.

The press process is where loose ginned cotton is compressed into tightly packed 500 lb. bales. Once baled, it is bagged and tagged. It can be tracked anywhere in the world from the coding system that is utilized.

A view from the shop floor shows many of the aspects of the process.

The art of maintenance.

Some of the faces of the crew that makes it happen.

The textures and shadows of a place tell stories about a lifetime of working hard and living with cotton in your blood.

Something old, something new...

Where cotton is king. Everything is in the details.

It starts here in the field...

...and ends here.

About to get bagged...

A finished bale before bagging.

Bales and separated seed... Seed is sold for livestock feed and other uses. Bales are sold for domestic and international use.

Waiting to ship...

Bits of history and the family farm...

Three generations working a farm with hundreds of years of history.

5 men... 3 generations. Moss Sr., Drake, John, Moss Jr. and Stewart.

Behind the scenes of telling this story...

2 visual artists, having fun and telling stories..

This project was a joint venture of John Fowler of Promotion Imaging and Kevin Anderson of Strategic Media.

Appreciate