Specialists Speaking
Keith Edmisten / NORTH CAROLINA
North Carolina has two variety testing programs: the Official Variety Testing (OVT) program and the On-Farm Testing (OFT) program. Growers should consider the results from both programs, as each has advantages and disadvantages. The OVT program uses smaller, research-sized plots with more varieties, but fewer locations. The newest varieties will appear first only in OVT. Growers may want to try some of these newer varieties on limited acreage. The OVT test results can be found at https://cotton.ces.ncsu.edu/2025-cotton-ovt-results/.
The OFT (large plot) program has more locations, and the larger plots are grown and managed on producer farms. The varieties in this program are usually established varieties that have been in OVT before and that companies have selected as their best. Companies often have more than two “best” varieties, so it is important to also look at OVT. Growers might want to depend on these test results for the bulk of their acreage because we generally have more experience with these varieties. The OFT results can be found https://cotton.ces.ncsu.edu/2025/11/yield-results-for-the-2025-nc-on-farm-cotton-variety-evaluation-program-collins-edmisten/
Even better, we have a variety selection tool where growers can peruse results from both testing programs at https://trials.ces.ncsu.edu/cotton/select_trials/. ∆
Keith Edmisten / NORTH CAROLINA