Producers Turn to PhytoGen W3FE Varieties to Battle Weeds and Pests

From Cotton Grower 2017-18 Product Showcase

Producers Turn to PhytoGen W3FE Varieties to Battle Weeds and Pests 

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The 2017 season was a year of firsts for many cotton producers who planted varieties with new trait technologies for weed and pest control. At harvest, growers are now evaluating performance and making seed decisions for next year.

Farmers who planted PhytoGen cottonseed with WideStrike 3 Insect Protection and the Enlist cotton trait (W3FE) report excellent results.

“The Enlist technology is a better choice for us. It provides effective weed control and has worked very well,” says cotton producer Cody Young of Eufaula, AL.

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New PhytoGen brand W3FE varieties offer improved control of yield-robbing pests and diseases while delivering the early season vigor, yield potential and fiber quality they’ve come to expect from PhytoGen. From West Texas and the Coastal Bend to the Mid-South and Southeast, farmers are excited about the profit potential from varieties such as PhytoGen brand PHY 300 W3FE, PHY 330 W3FE, PHY 340 W3FE, PHY 450 W3FE and PHY 490 W3FE.

“The yield and quality are two reasons we grow PhytoGen,” says Young. “That and the dependability PhytoGen does what it’s supposed to do. The company has proven it can deliver. They’ve earned our trust.”

Young has been growing cotton in southeast Alabama and southwest Georgia for about five years. He’s a member of an elite group of producers, the PhytoGen Horizon Network, and has grown PhytoGen brand W3FE varieties for two years. He believes they enable him to work more efficiently while protecting the yield and quality he expects from PhytoGen.

Young has been concentrating on weed control and learning more about the new Enlist weed control system. Exclusive to PhytoGen, the Enlist cotton trait provides tolerance to Enlist Duo herbicide — a combination of new 2,4-D choline and glyphosate — as well as glufosinate, to help eliminate tough-to-control and resistant weeds.

Young says everyone’s situation is different, and each grower needs to decide what’s right for his farm. Young also chose the Enlist weed control system for the ease of use and compatibility with other cropping systems. He also grows peanuts, so the system offered additional advantages for his operation.

“We have peanuts that we spray with 2,4-DB and that too played into our decision to grow W3FE varieties,” Young says.

Young says initial variety performance has been good. He reports PhytoGen brand PHY 450 W3FE held up well in the face of Tropical Storm Cindy, and that PhytoGen brand PHY 340 W3FE emerged in only four days. He’s eager to compare forthcoming yields with the high yielding PhytoGen brand varieties he’s grown in the past.

Excellent fiber quality and pest control

Gene West, of Corner Cotton Gin and G&R Farms in Newton Grove, NC, says he grows PhytoGen brand varieties because of consistent high-quality fiber.

“Since we have a gin, we see firsthand the importance of quality. When a bale of cotton is shipped overseas, it’s got to be good quality, because consumers desire a higher-quality product,” West says.

West, also a PhytoGen Horizon Network grower, increased his acres of W3FE varieties this year after trying PhytoGen brand PHY 490 W3FE last year. West says PHY 490 W3FE had strong seedling vigor and puts on an excellent boll load. But he’s most excited about the trait package on this new variety.

“WideStrike 3 seems to control the bollworm pressure better. And with the Enlist weed control system, we will have something to help control these resistant pigweeds,” West says.

New W3FE varieties also include native traits to help cotton thrive even under unforeseen disease and nematode pressures. Growers can currently choose from numerous PhytoGen brand varieties with bacterial blight resistance, Verticillium wilt tolerance and root knot nematode (RKN) resistance. In the near future, PhytoGen cottonseed varieties will also include native genes that have resistance to reniform nematodes.

For more information on PhytoGen cottonseed, go to PhytoGenCottonseed.com, or join the conversation by following us on Facebook or Twitter.

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