After months of anticipation, Monsanto has announced that three new cotton varieties will be launched for the Deltapine Class of 2014, including a variety bred for resistance to root-knot nematodes (RKN). The announcement occurred at the Charleston Place Hotel in Charleston, S.C., where approximately 150 farmers attended. All of the farmers were participants in the New Product Evaluator (NPE) program.
“It was a case of continuing to build on the success we’ve had in the past as far as this launch event and the three varieties that we announced,” says Deltapine marketing lead Dave Rhylander. “We think these varieties address the needs of growers, especially the new variety that is nematode resistant.”
The NPE is now in its sixth year and gives producers an opportunity to plant new varieties on their farms to see how they perform. After receiving feedback from NPE producers, the decision is then made on which varieties will be commercially released.
After much talk about the possibility of a new nematode-resistant variety being launched, Monsanto announced that the following three varieties will be available in 2014:
DP 1454NR B2RF – This is a full-season variety bred for resistance to root-knot nematodes. According to Deltapine officials, it showed the ability to yield with competitor varieties in fields with low RKN populations and yield advantages in fields with moderate to high RKN levels in 2013. At special field day events across the Belt, officials said the variety can help reduce nematode reproduction and population in the soil, while improving growth and plant performance in fields where RKN was traditionally an issue.
“It was the highest yielder at 2,239 pounds per acre,” says producer Jeremy Louder of Stanton, Texas. “I have been watching this variety for three years in a research plot. Every farm we have is just eaten up with root- knot nematodes. Based on what I’ve seen for the last three years, I’d highly recommend this variety.”
DP 1410 B2RF – This is an early maturity variety for West Texas markets and has shown exceptional storm resistance, as well as resistance to bacterial blight and tolerance to verticillium wilt. Officials say it demonstrated high yield potential and excellent fiber quality last season in West Texas fields.
“It did pretty well for us,” says producer Justin Garrett of Dumas, Texas. “It stripped great, and the maturity was right.”
DP 1441 RF – This is a mid- to full-season variety for West Texas. It fits dryland and limited-water fields and is easy to manage, according to NPE farmers who evaluated it in 2013.
“This variety looked good in our irrigated NPE plot all season,” says producer Chad Brown of Lubbock. “I liked the way it grew, and it was easy to manage. It went into the loan at around 55.08 cents.”
Deltapine officials seemed pleased by the turnout at the event and the reaction from producers.
“We would like to think that we are continuing a tradition by offering new varieties for farmers,” says Keylon Gholston, Deltapine cotton products manager. “These new varieties offer proven traits for insect and weed control and were proven to perform in their target markets by farmers.”
Deltapine contributed information for this article. For more details, go to www.deltapine.com/classof14.