Despite another challenging season for cotton growers, Armor continued to build momentum across the Cotton Belt in 2026.
“Overall, 2026 was a good year for the Armor brand,” says Robert Cossar, Armor Marketing Manager. “It looks like we’re probably going to gain a little bit of share. We’re still waiting on final acre counts and bag counts, but it looks like we are going to gain some market share.”
Cossar says much of that growth is coming from West Texas and Georgia, two markets where Armor continues to find success. The brand also expanded its presence in the Mid-South during the 2026 season.
At the center of that success are two familiar varieties: Armor 9371 B3XF and Armor 9831 B3XF. Both have been on the market for roughly four years, and Cossar says growers continue to point to their consistency.
“They’re just consistent year in, year out,” Cossar says. “Growers need something on the farm that they can depend on, and those two varieties have continued to deliver.”
Armor 9371 B3XF has demonstrated that consistency from the Carolinas through the Mid-South, while Armor 9831 B3XF has developed a particularly strong fit in South Georgia. Cossar says growers continue to see dependable performance from both varieties in yield and fiber quality.
A New Variety Makes Its Mark
While proven varieties remain an important part of Armor’s lineup, the company is also encouraged by the early performance of Armor 9245 B3TXF.
Armor released the variety in small commercial quantities for the 2026 season, giving the company its first opportunity to see it perform more broadly on growers’ farms. An early-to-early-mid maturity variety featuring Bollgard 3, ThryvOn and XtendFlex technologies, Armor 9245 B3TXF has shown the potential to fit across a wide range of markets.
“It continues to impress us on fields,” Cossar says. “It’s early, early-mid type, and so it really fits a wide variety of markets.”
The variety was already showing promise in limited quantities a year ago, when Armor was awaiting additional gin results before determining how widely to introduce it. This season’s expanded commercial exposure gives the company another opportunity to evaluate its performance under grower conditions.
Cossar says Armor will continue gathering yield and fiber quality data as harvest progresses, but Armor 9245 B3TXF remains an important part of the company’s lineup heading into 2027.
Building the 2027 Pipeline
The company evaluated six experimental varieties during 2026. A couple feature Bollgard 3 XtendFlex technology, while the remainder feature ThryvOn. Cossar says two or three have looked particularly promising based on field observations, although Armor will wait for yield and fiber quality results before making advancement decisions.
Armor is evaluating where each experimental variety fits geographically and where it can provide growers with the strongest opportunity for a positive return on investment. Depending on results, Cossar says the company could advance one to three varieties in the late fall or early winter.
Demand Grows for ThryvOn
“We’re really seeing more demand for the ThryvOn from growers,” Cossar says. “We’ll continue to lean into that.”
For Armor, that means balancing new technology with the characteristics that have helped establish the brand’s current varieties. As new traits become available later in the decade and into the next, Cossar says Armor will continue adapting its portfolio while maintaining its focus on genetics that perform both in the field and at the gin.
“I think we have a really bright future of providing good quality genetics that not only yield on the farm, but also grade out from a fiber quality standpoint,” Cossar says.
Heading into 2027, that gives Armor a lineup built around the proven consistency of Armor 9371 B3XF and Armor 9831 B3XF, the continued success of Armor 9413XF and Armor 9442XF in west TX, and the emerging potential of Armor 9245 B3TXF, and a new experimental class that could help shape the brand’s next generation of varieties.
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