2016 Seed Showcase – Americot

From Cotton Grower Magazine – November 2015

For Americot, the 2015 growing season was one of success and transition.

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The success came in a familiar stronghold – the Southwest region, where the company snapped up nearly 9% of available cotton acreage. The transition comes in the form of XtendFlex technology, which will be featured in more and more NexGen and Americot seed brands in the coming years.

But for now, NexGen variety NG 1511 B2RF remains the leading seller among the company’s varieties. The workhorse variety captured nearly 5% of acreage in the Southwest region – and for good reason.

“NG 1511 B2RF is a mid-maturing variety that has been our go-to variety for the last three years,” says Rocky Free, Southwest sales representative for Americot, who notes that for many Southwest producers, NG 1511 B2RF set new yield records on the farm. “With that said, we do feel like we have new varieties coming that will improve on that.”

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Perhaps the most anticipated new NexGen variety for the 2016 season will be NG 3406 B2XF, which Americot representatives say will find a home on cotton acres from Georgia to New Mexico.

“It is a sister variety to NG 1511 B2RF, and what we’ve done is to try and improve the fiber quality, to get something that is a little tighter in the burr, and something that is a consistently good grader on your lint product,” says Free. “If I had one word to describe it, I would say it is a thoroughbred – something you can ride, and ride, and ride.

“It responds well on dryland, irrigated, anywhere you want to put it, it will be a good fit.”

Americot representatives are high on several new offerings for 2016, including many new XtendFlex introductions. Varieties such as NG 5007 B2XF and NG 3405 B2XF are also making waves for their performance in 2015.

“NG 5007 B2XF is a mid- to full-maturity variety, and its advantage is that it has a huge turnout at the gin,” says Free. “It’s long staple, and it will fit in those dryland areas and very light water. It’s one of the best looking cottons out here this year, and it was last year, too.”

One new variety, NG 3500 XF, is poised to be the only straight XtendFlex (non-Bollgard) variety on the market in 2016.

“If you are looking for a Verticillium tolerant and bacterial blight-immune variety, this will be a good one for you,” said Maci McCabe, Southwest sales representative. “It’s also an excellent dryland variety, so it will be a good one to consider for next year.”

While Americot representatives are excited about the opportunities XtendFlex technology present to American farmers, they are also aware of the strain of added tech fees that could arise.

“If a 230,000 seed count bag is going to have to be roughly $30 higher, due to the tech fee, we’re not going to do that,” said Terry Campbell, Americot general manager. “The tech fee will rise, but we’re going to bring our cottonseed price down to compensate for that.

“We’re going to try and probably eat $20 or so of that $30 fee, because we do not want you to say ‘I can’t afford that cotton.’”

Campbell says Americot has a good supply of varieties that were available in seed production in 2015.

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