Monsanto to market five new varieties of high yield cotton seeds

07 Jan '09

3 min read

Monsanto Company announced its D&PL business will market five new varieties as the Deltapine Class of 09 for the coming production season. These varieties, which offer the latest improvements in yield potential and technology, were introduced during the 2009 Beltwide Cotton Conferences that have brought the cotton industry together in San Antonio.

The varieties -- DP 0912 B2RF, DP 0920 B2RF, DP 0924 B2RF, DP 0935 B2RF and DP 0949 B2RF -- offered excellent yield potential across hundreds of test locations during the 2008 season. The Class of 09 will offer new, higher yield potentials to growers throughout the Cotton Belt and the well established benefits of Bollgard II and Roundup Ready Flex.

Dr. Robert T. Fraley, Monsanto chief technology officer, met with a group of farmers who participated in the company's new product exposure program.

"There is an excitement that comes from introducing improvements that will help our farmers produce more," Fraley says. "The excitement with the Class of 09 comes not only from the data showing a new standard in on-farm yield and value performance. There is also a real excitement around the Class of 09 because more than 100 farmers experienced first-hand the increased yield potential on their farms. We anticipate this excitement continuing, as the Class of 09 is the latest in a series of gains we are driving through breeding and technology as we seek to double yields by 2030."

Dr. Dave Albers, Monsanto cotton germplasm development lead, said increasing yields is a primary way to increase cotton's on-farm profitability.

"In our testing of the Class of 09 varieties, we have captured yield data and followed that through fiber quality testing," Albers explains. "Across the Belt, these varieties outyielded market standards like DP 555 BG/RR and ST 4554 B2RF, which have been cited as the top planted varieties by the USDA. Once we got gin receipts and fiber data we saw that crop values were also higher than the market standards of any of the commercial varieties tested."

Innovative new product exposure plots enabled more than 100 farmers to try the Class of 09 varieties on their farms. The farmers had large plots and managed based on their own scouting programs and results farmers have reported were similarly impressive.

-- Wellington, Texas farmer Tony Cox was able to look at four Class of 09 varieties. With yields of 3.5 to 4 bales in each of those varieties, Cox says he looks forward to planting some of those varieties again in 2009 as they are commercialized.

-- In Georgia, Tony Lasseter who farms near Moultrie had three Class of 09 varieties -- DP 0924 B2RF, DP 0920 B2RF, and DP 0935 B2RF -- beat DP 555 BG/RR, which had commanded the biggest share of Lasseter's farm for the past 5 years. DP 0920 B2RF and DP 0935 B2RF outperformed "triple nickel" by approximately 200 pounds.

-- Mount and Mount Farms in Friendship, Tenn., had four Class of 09 varieties that outperformed ST 4554 B2RF. Mount saw advantages from approximately 100 pounds per acre to more than 350 pounds per acre over the local standard.

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