North Carolina cotton farmers have an online tool, the North Carolina Cotton Variety Performance Calculator, that will aid them in their cotton variety decision making.

The North Carolina Cotton Variety Performance Calculator was developed by North Carolina State University Extension cotton specialists Keith Edmisten and Guy Collins with technical expertise from N.C. State Extension Information Technology.

The online calculator is designed to assist producers with evaluating cotton variety performance, based on a range of selection criteria. This online calculator includes multi-year and multi-environment replicated data from the NCSU Official Variety Trials and the North Carolina On-Farm Cotton Variety Evaluation Programs.

Collins said the calculator allows cotton farmers to chose any specific variety they want to compare. "I can choose as few as two or as many as I want to,"  Collins said. "Every variety that was in either in OVT (Official Variety Trial)  or in on-farm variety trials will be built in the calculator,  dating back to 2013."

Farmers can select multiple years or individual years and can select varieties by average yields with the calculator. The calculator has the capabilities to rank varieties by lint yield from top to bottom, according to Collins. The calculator also allows farmers to rank varieties by different criteria, such as fiber length.