BASF: Delivering Consistent Performance in 2022
November 14, 2022 Evaluating variety performance, especially in parts of Texas, has been a little more challenging this season due to the environmental extremes.
“It’s been a really tough year,” says Kenny Melton, Western Region Agronomic Manager for BASF. “But there were some bright spots, too.”
FiberMax
For FiberMax, consistency has been the name of the game, and several varieties have brought a few smiles to grower faces this season.
In South and East Texas, FM 1953GLTP has provided consistent fiber quality across multiple environments. With its strong emergence, FM 2498GLT has also worked well in those areas.
“Growers in the Coastal Bend are always pushing the planting envelope because they want to get the crop in and out before hurricane season,” says Melton. “FM 2498GLT is a larger seed with good oil content, and it has been a really strong yielder for us.”
In West Texas, from the Panhandle down to the Rolling Plains. FM 1621GL is an outstanding yielder, plus root knot nematode tolerance. Melton notes that that’s important when moving further south into sandier soils and higher nematode pressure.
FM 2398GLTP and FM 2498GLT are both out of the same background. 2398 has the 3-gene trait for an extra layer of protection against bollworm and is just a little earlier, giving it a larger footprint across the region.
Another FiberMax variety with root knot nematode tolerance is FM 1730GLTP. And, like 2398 and 2498, it also provides great Verticillium wilt tolerance – a key feature of FiberMax varieties, as well as bacterial blight tolerance.
“As dry and hot as this year was, we didn’t think Verticillium wilt was going to be an issue at all,” relates Melton. “When those late rains came in towards the end of the season, we thought all it would do is add some weight to the crop that was still out there. But it also set off Verticillium wilt in fields that were infested with it, and growers had to deal with it then.”
Stoneville
“ST 4990B3XF has the better fiber quality out of our Stoneville background and has consistently handled different environments,” says Melton. “Its yield has also been consistently toward the top in our trials. In terms of a safe bet for a grower, this one’s not going to crater in terms of fiber quality when it hits some tough environments.”
The variety has demonstrated performance this year across the Eastern Cotton Belt, South and East Texas, and even into parts of West Texas.
ST 4595B3XF, a new variety for 2022, also showed promise across the same geographies.
“It really did well in South Texas this season,” notes Melton.” It’s a little earlier variety, and its fiber quality is pretty darn good, too.”
East Texas was also a strong market for ST 5707B2XF. And West Texas growers are also interested in ST 4993B3XF because it’s a high yielder and tight in the burr.
Looking Ahead
Concerns over the availability of Liberty herbicide for use with FiberMax varieties last season prompted BASF to put some tools in place with retailers for 2023 to help growers secure the Liberty needed for weed control.
BASF researchers are looking at four new B3XF varieties for possible launch in 2023. And their Directed Use Trials in 2022 provided a chance to see the new Axant Flex weed control technology at work in larger plot scenarios.
“With all of the pressure that’s being put on the auxin systems, we’re looking forward to being able to launch that technology, regulatory approvals pending.”
GET THE NEWSLETTER TODAY!
