U.S. cotton producers will have several new and emerging technologies for managing weed resistance and other pests in 2015, including Bollgard II/XtendFlex cotton, WideStrike 3 cotton and GlyTol, LibertyLink, TwinLink cotton.

According to Monsanto, a limited introduction of Bollgard II/XtendFlex cotton is planned for the 2015 planting season through Deltapine and select licensees in varieties that fit broadly across the entire Cotton Belt. Monsanto anticipates the new cotton varieties will be grown on more than half a million acres.

Bollgard II/XtendFlex cotton, part of the Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System, is tolerant to three herbicides — dicamba, glyphosate and glufosinate. Glyphosate and glufosinate are currently approved for use as in-crop herbicides, while over-the-top dicamba use is pending regulatory approval.

At the time of this writing, dicamba is not approved for use with XtendFlex cotton.

“We are working very closely with farmers during this year’s limited introduction, and we’re taking active steps through multiple avenues to help ensure that growers and retailers are informed of this technology’s authorized and labeled use,” said Jordan Iverson, cotton traits marketing manager at Monsanto Company. “This new cotton technology provides farmers a tremendous value for weed control by adding tolerance to an additional, approved mode of action through Liberty herbicide. Once authorized, dicamba herbicide will deliver a third mode of action.”

As of Oct. 1, 2014, Bollgard II, XtendFlex cotton has been approved for import in Australia, Mexico, Japan and Canada. Growers should refer to http://www.biotradestatus.com/ for any updated information on import country approvals.

On the following pages are new cotton varieties for the 2015 season. Descriptions were provided by seed companies.

Monsanto/Deltapine brand

New Deltapine B2XF varieties include:

DP 1518 B2XF is adapted to high-yield, short-season environments and is best suited for the upper Southeast, mid- to upper-Mid-South and on irrigated acres in Texas.

DP 1522 B2XF is an early-mid maturity that is widely adapted. Best fit is for the upper Southeast and Mid-South. It has yield potential similar to DP 0912 B2RF and good fiber quality potential.

DP 1538 B2XF is a mid-maturity variety with yield potential similar to DP 1050 B2RF. It shows aggressive growth and will require timely plant growth regulator management. It showed good performance on dryland fields in the Southeast. Its best fit is the Mid-South and Southeast.

DP 1549 B2XF is a full-season variety, adapted to full-season markets and is a best fit for Texas and Arizona. Its performance is on par with DP 1044 B2RF in Texas, especially on dryland and fields with limited water for irrigation.

DP 1553 B2XF is broadly adapted to full-season growing areas. It may require timely plant growth regulator management under vigorous growing conditions.

In addition, Deltapine is releasing a new root-knot nematode resistant variety and another new variety that will sound familiar to many producers:

DP 1555 B2RF is named in the tradition of the old Triple Nickel or the DP 555 Bollgard, Roundup Ready variety. “It has the potential to bring us up to a new level of yield,” said Keylon Gholston, Deltapine product manager. “It performs well in all yield environments, but where we’re really seeing the super performance is at the high end. It really separated from even the high-yielding varieties like DP 1252. It will fit across the Southeast, the lower Mid-South and the coastal areas of Texas.”

DP 1558NR B2RF is Deltapine’s second root-knot-nematode-resistant variety. It is full season and adapted to growing conditions in the Southeast, the Texas Southern High Plains and Southern Rolling Plains.

Bayer CropScience/FiberMax and Stoneville brands

Bayer CropScience announces four new FiberMax and Stoneville cotton varieties for the 2015 season.

All four new varieties come stacked with GlyTol, LibertyLink, TwinLink technology to help growers fight weeds and worm pests. GlyTol, LibertyLink technology provides growers full tolerance to over-the-top application of Liberty herbicide and glyphosate to manage tough-to-control weeds. TwinLink provides two Bt genes for season-long protection against lepidopteran pests, such as cotton bollworm.

Jeff Brehmer, U.S. product manager for FiberMax and Stoneville, said the new varieties, “expand our current variety portfolio and help address challenges to cotton production that growers face on their farms.”

New FiberMax varieties available for 2015 include:

FM 1900GLT offers the newest FiberMax germplasm for the High Plains and Rolling Plains of the Southwest for growers who look for excellent storm tolerance, high yields and great fiber quality. FM 1900GLT has a slightly earlier maturity than FM 2484B2F with improved micronaire and similar yield potential. It is a GlyTol, LibertyLink, TwinLink variety with full tolerance to Liberty herbicide and glyphosate, plus broad-spectrum lepidopteran insect protection with two Bt genes.

FM 2007GLT is a new variety bred specifically for the harsh South Texas growing environment, but it also has shown a wide adaptation for the Rolling Plains. It is an early-medium maturity, GlyTol, LibertyLink, TwinLink variety with excellent water-use efficiency and storm tolerance to help growers overcome challenging weather conditions in the Texas Coastal Bend. It is easy to manage with lower rates of plant growth regulator and offers excellent yields and fiber quality.

New Stoneville varieties available for 2015 include:

ST 5115GLT gives growers from the Mid-South, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast a variety that responds well to irrigation and has a high lint turnout — a perfect combination for top-end yields. It has excellent seedling vigor, providing an edge for a geography that sometimes faces cool, wet springs. ST 5115GLT offers GlyTol, LibertyLink, TwinLink technology for full tolerance to Liberty herbicide and glyphosate, plus broad-spectrum lepidopteran insect protection with two Bt genes.

ST 6182GLT is a full-season variety bred for the Southeast, south Delta, southeastern Texas and Mid-Atlantic regions with the ability to fight through long, unpredictable growing seasons and deliver high lint turnout. ST 6182GLT is well adapted for dryland and irrigated acres on light or heavy soils, a benefit for Southeast growers who often have multiple soil types in one field. It also offers GlyTol, LibertyLink, TwinLink technology to protect cotton fields against tough-to-control weeds and lepidopteran pests.

Dow AgroSciences/PhytoGen brand

New varieties from PhytoGen bring three-gene insect trait technology and root-knot-nematode and bacterial blight resistance.

“Yield results lead the decision on which cottonseed varieties a grower chooses to plant,” says Duane Canfield, general manager and portfolio marketing leader for PhytoGen. “They also consider how the quality of that yield can add value. That’s why PhytoGen has had the No.1-planted varieties in upland, Pima and Acala cotton for four consecutive years.”

The introduction of the first three-gene insect trait technology — WideStrike 3 Insect Protection — offers improved protection against cotton bollworm and improved resistance management.

PHY 333 WRF is an early to mid-maturing option with excellent fiber quality and high yield potential, particularly on irrigated, fertile soil. It’s an excellent complement to PHY 499 WRF.

PHY 495 W3RF is the first three-gene Bt product on the market, an excellent option for growers concerned with yield losses due to cotton bollworm. Growers have also seen high yield and great quality with this variety.

PHY 417 WRF and PHY 427 WRF are early to midseason varieties that feature full root-knot-nematode resistance. Both are short-season varieties that feature strong yield potential and fiber qualities. PHY 417 WRF is best-suited for Texas and Oklahoma while PHY 427 WRF fits the Mid-South and Southeast.

PHY 222 WRF is the earliest-maturing variety in PhytoGen’s lineup, specifically bred for consistent high yield potential along with storm tolerance. It’s a good fit for West Texas.

Croplan by Winfield

Robert Cossar, with Croplan by Winfield, says Croplan will introduce two cotton varieties with XtendFlex, in limited supplies:

CG 3475 B2XF is an early- to early-mid-maturity variety with a best fit in the northern tier of the Cotton Belt, from the Carolinas to Tennessee, the Missouri Bootheel and Arkansas to Lubbock, north. “Breeder data show it is very high yielding, with excellent fiber quality,” Cossar said. It’s a semi-smooth leaf variety with a large seed size and excellent early-season vigor. Seed supplies will be limited.

CG3885 B2XF is a true, full-maturity, smooth-leaf variety that performs best in the lower Southeast and lower Mid-South to south of Lubbock. “It’s an excellent yielder and has excellent fiber quality,” Cossar said. Length runs about 37, strength around 30 and micronaire around 4.5 to 4.7. The variety will have a higher lint percentage than other varieties and will require more growth management under favorable environmental conditions. Seed supplies are limited.

Dyna-Gro and All Tex Brands

DG 3385 B2XF offers tolerance to Roundup, Liberty and dicamba. It is an early-maturity, semi-smooth leaf cotton variety, good for both dryland and intensive management environments and has good storm tolerance. It has a medium-tall plant height. “Under a heavy boll load late in the season, it may want to slow down on you, so you have to stay with it and manage it carefully, said Larry Stauber, an agronomist with Dyna-Gro and All Tex brands.

DG 3385 B2XF has very good fiber, and fits on all soils, from Sharkey clays to deep sands. It’s adaptable from Arizona to the East Coast, from I-20 north, Stauber said. Avoid fields with a history of Verticillium wilt.

Stauber expects to release additional new All Tex and Dyna-Gro cotton varieties with XtendFlex in 2016.

Americot and NexGen brands

NexGen cotton brand will have three XtendFlex varieties for 2015, according to Ken Legé, director of technical service for Americot.

NG 3405B2XF is an early-mid maturity variety, broadly adapted with good yield potential and good fiber quality. The semi-smooth leaf variety is available in limited quantities.

NG 3406B2XF is an early-mid maturity variety that is more determinate than NG 3405. It is primarily adapted to the northern tier of the Cotton Belt, from the northern High Plains, to the northern Mid-South and Southeast. It is a semi-smooth leaf with excellent fiber quality. It performs best under highly productive, irrigated ground. Supplies are not as limited in this variety as in 3405 and 5007.

NG 5007 B2XF is a mid-full maturity cotton variety adapted to the southern Southeast and Arizona. It is a smooth-leaf variety with great fiber quality and high turnout. Even though quantity is limited, Legé expects a good marketshare in those two areas.

Seed Source Genetics

With cotton prices flirting with 60 cents a pound, cotton producers are looking at ways to cut costs. According to Edward Jungmann with Seed Source Genetics, one producer in Arkansas accomplished this through one of SSG’s conventional cotton varieties, UA 222, developed by University of Arkansas cotton breeder Fred Bourland.

“The producer told us that he had $80 per acre less in UA 222 than in the technology cottons,” Jungmann said. “He farms 5,000 acres of cotton, and 250 acres were in conventional varieties.”

The grower also told Jungmann the variety “made another hundred more pounds per acre than the technology-based cotton right beside it. That’s about $50 per acre. Add the $80 in seed savings, and he’s looking at a $130 advantage.”