2016 Seed Showcase – Deltapine
November 6, 2015 From Cotton Grower Magazine – November 2015
This year’s USDA numbers show that Deltapine brand cotton varieties were again planted on more acres than any other cottonseed brand. Those same numbers showed that the company’s workhorse variety – DP 1044 B2RF – was the third most popular variety for 2015.
But look closely at the variety rankings, and you’ll see the company’s future coming on fast, as several of its new Bollgard II XtendFlex (B2XF) varieties picked up significant regional acres in a limited introduction.
Keylon Gholston is not surprised.
“The variety I’m hearing more about from the Carolinas and Virginia all the way to West Texas is DP 1522 B2XF,” says Gholston, Deltapine cotton product manager. “It’s an early mid-season variety that showed exceptional yield in all of our trials. I think it’s going to do an excellent job across yield environments and soil types. It’s just a widely adapted set of genetics that has a lot of people excited all across the Cotton Belt.”
In addition to DP 1522 B2XF, Gholston noted other new varieties that were turning heads this season:
- DP 1518 B2XF, an early season variety that showed well on acres from the Upper Southeast to the Mid-South and on into Eastern Texas.
- DP 1538 B2XF, a taller, more rugged-type plant that performed well on sandier dryland soils across the Southeast.
- DP 1553 B2XF, a fuller season variety with very good fiber quality and a true fit in the Southeast and parts of East Texas. “I believe it’s going to be one of our top yielders in the Southeast,” predicts Gholston.
Another new variety that showed solid promise this season is DP 1549 B2XF, which was bred exclusively for Texas in the company’s Texas breeding program. “It’s a variety that I think is going to have a fit real soon where DP 1044 B2RF has traditionally been planted,” says Gholston. “It fits on that dryland, light-to-mid water acre. But if growers get supplemental rain, it has top-end yield potential as well.”
Several other Deltapine varieties without the XtendFlex technology also successfully found homes on acres of special opportunity. One of them – DP 1555 B2RF – even incorporates a familiar variety number for many Southeast growers.
“The growers I’ve talked with in the lower Southeast are extremely excited about what they see in this variety from a yield perspective,” notes Gholston. “I think it’s going to be a set of genetics that’s going to last a while. There are acres where growers can still manage pigweed well, and this variety is going to be a good complement to our XtendFlex lineup.”
Deltapine’s nematode-resistant varieties – DP 1558NR B2RF and DP 1454NR B2RF – have quickly found homes in fields of moderate to heavy nematode pressure from the Southeast over to Texas. Both are full season varieties and were in high grower demand in 2015.
Deltapine is still keeping the wraps on plans for its Class of 16 varieties. According to Gholston, the company is evaluating at least eight potential varieties through the company’s New Product Evaluator (NPE) program. Three of those varieties are targeted exclusively for Texas, with five others showing wide adaptability, high yield potential and a very favorable fiber package.
“Since we initiated the NPE program, we spend a lot of time throughout the growing season looking at those plots,” says Gholston. “We’ll have all of the data pulled together by early December, and those NPE growers are going to tell us what we need to commercialize.”
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