Americot Keeps Focus on Innovation and Choice
November 27, 2023 Robert Lemon, Ph.D. has seen a lot during his years in the cotton business. But even he was surprised at the level of grower interest and performance in varieties with the new ThryvOn Technology.
“To some degree, it was a pleasant surprise,” says Lemon, who is Product Development Manager/Senior Agronomist for Americot. “It was, I think, bigger than all of us in the industry probably anticipated.”
Getting ThryvOn varieties on the farm this year appears to be good timing, especially with the high level of thrips infestations in the Mid-South and other areas. Lemon notes that growers with ThryvOn fared pretty well while those without likely faced multiple treatments for thrips. And that’s not even counting the benefits for tarnished plant bug management.
Breeding for the Market
Americot brought four NexGen ThryvOn varieties to the market this year — NG 4343 B3TXF, NG 4350 B3TXF, NG 4335 B3TXF, and NG 3327 B3TXF — in an introductory capacity. All are early-to-medium maturing varieties with broad adaptation and high yield potential.
“We have a parallel breeding platform in place right now,” Lemon says, “so we’re still actively breeding new B3XF varieties as well as the B3TXF varieties. We’re hoping to bring several of these new NexGen varieties to the market in 2024.”
As always, market forces will dictate how quickly trait platform changes will go. For the near term, Americot plans to continue to provide cotton growers with some level of choice.
“Some growers may not feel like they need ThryvOn because of their insect complex,” points out Lemon. “But I think it’s important for growers to look at the absolute value of a variety and the technology. They need to see how it works on their farm, how they’re going to manage it, and what value or benefits it may bring to them, because everybody’s situation is going to be different.”
Case in point. Lemon says 2023 was a pretty difficult year for thrips in Texas, as well as other parts of the Cotton Belt. There was a lot of rain early, then it turned hot and dry for the remainder of the season.
“A grower in the upper Gulf Coast of Texas who planted some NG 4335 B3TXF called me one day and said ‘Robert, my ThryvOn is beautiful and I’m spraying my NexGen 4190 B3XF’,” recalls Lemon. “I’m like, well, that’s the value of the trait.”
Show and Tell
This year, Americot managed a series of focused field days for growers and crop consultants at the company’s Breeders Yield Trials locations, featuring current NexGen commercial varieties, plus potential offerings in the company’s near term and long-term pipeline. It was, as Lemon put it, a bit of a peek behind the curtain.
“It was a chance to start building momentum for all of the great genetics that Americot has coming forward and showcase our breeding program,” he says. “The fruits of those labors are now coming to us. We have a lot of good stuff coming — in many cases better than the really good varieties we have today.
“It’s an important time in the cotton industry with regard to being able to put yield on the farm along with really good fiber quality parameters.”
Lemon is also proud of the high level of customer service that Americot representatives bring to their customers.
“That’s our job,” he says. “We’re on the farm bringing value and knowledge to the grower. We want to help make them as successful as they can be.”
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