Backed by proven performance and industry-leading traits, Deltapine^® cotton was again the most popular-planted cottonseed brand in the United States this year, according to estimates in the USDA Cotton Varieties Planted 2018 Crop Report issued in September.

In addition, the report indicated that Deltapine variety DP 1646 B2XF distanced itself even further from the competition this year, again ranking as the #1 planted cotton variety, due to its consistently strong performance and fiber quality potential.

The Deltapine brand grew cotton acreage share in the Southeast, Mid-South and Far West regions. Driven by top-end performance of its varieties, Deltapine grew share in each state within the Southeast and Mid-South regions from 2017 to 2018, according to the report. No other seed brand grew market share in all 11 cotton-growing states across those two regions.

The USDA report also reflects how much growers value the benefits offered by the Roundup Ready^® Xtend Crop System. They planted more than 60 percent of the 2018 cotton acres to Bollgard II^® XtendFlex^® and Bollgard^® 3 XtendFlex^® varieties. The adoption rate of this dicamba-tolerant technology in just three years reflects growers’ confidence in the effective and timely weed management they are getting with the system.

“Growers continue to have confidence in the germplasm, trait technologies and performance potential of Deltapine cotton,” said Keylon Gholston, Deltapine Cotton Product Manager, noting that much of that confidence is due to the industry-leading cotton varieties that have come from the Deltapine New Product Evaluator (NPE) Program. Now in its 11th season, the NPE Program is focused on bringing proven-performing varieties to market in all cotton-growing regions of the United States and broadening the availability of new technologies such as Bollgard 3 XtendFlex cotton.

“Growers trust in Deltapine because Deltapine trusts growers to help evaluate new lines before we bring them to market, proving the ability to perform before a bag of seed is sold,” said Gholston. “The Deltapine NPE Program continues to result in efficient adoption of new genetics and traits.”

In the 2018 USDA report, Deltapine cotton commanded 86.30 percent of Mississippi cotton acres, 78.81 percent of Louisiana cotton acres, 70.82 percent of South Carolina cotton acres, 68.68 percent of Arkansas cotton acres and 63.97 percent of Georgia cotton acres.

DP 1646 B2XF, repeating as the most-planted cotton variety across the Cotton Belt, was planted on 21.16 percent of the overall U.S. upland acres. DP 1646 B2XF was planted on more than half of the cotton acres in Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida and almost on half of the cotton acres in South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. DP 1646 B2XF was also the cotton variety most commonly planted in Texas this season.

“The report confirms again that growers in every cotton-growing region in the U.S. continue to turn to DP 1646 B2XF and other leading Deltapine brand varieties because those varieties deliver strong performance in their region, year after year, across a range of environments and management systems,” said Gholston. “And the exciting news is that the Deltapine pipeline has strong variety candidates in NPE trials that also combine advanced breeding with important technology that will help enable growers to manage threats and be productive. While we are proud to be recognized as a leader on cotton acres today, we are even more encouraged by what the future holds for cotton growers in every region of the Cotton Belt and for Deltapine.”

Visit Deltapine.com for more information.

<sub>ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW DIRECTIONS FOR USE ON PESTICIDE LABELING. IT IS A VIOLATION OF FEDERAL AND STATE LAW to use any pesticide product other than in accordance with its labeling. NOT ALL formulations of dicamba or glyphosate are approved for in-crop use with cotton with XtendFlex® technology. ONLY USE FORMULATIONS THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY LABELED FOR SUCH USES AND APPROVED FOR SUCH USE IN THE STATE OF APPLICATION. May not be approved in all states. Contact the U.S. EPA and your state pesticide regulatory agency with any questions about the approval status of dicamba herbicide products for in-crop use with cotton with XtendFlex® technology.

Cotton with XtendFlex® technology contains genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate, dicamba and glufosinate. Glyphosate will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate. Dicamba will kill crops that are not tolerant to dicamba. Glufosinate will kill crops that are not tolerant to glufosinate. Contact your Monsanto dealer or refer to Monsanto's Technology Use Guide for recommended weed control programs.</sub>

_{Performance may vary from location to location and from year to year. This result may not be an indicator of results you may obtain as local growing, soil and weather conditions may vary. Growers should evaluate data from multiple locations and years whenever possible.}

_{ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW IRM, WHERE APPLICABLE, GRAIN MARKETING AND ALL OTHER STEWARDSHIP PRACTICES AND PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. Bollgard®, Bollgard II®, Respect the Refuge and Cotton Design®, Roundup Ready®, Roundup Technology®, Roundup® and XtendFlex® are registered trademarks of Bayer Group. Deltapine® is a registered trademark of Bayer Group. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2018 Bayer Group, All Rights Reserved.}