Bayer Showcases Deltapine Varieties, Thanks Producers at NPE Summit
December 15, 2025 Over 150 cotton producers gathered in Hollywood, FL, over the weekend for the annual New Product Evaluator (NPE) Summit. The farmers were on hand to witness and celebrate Bayer’s unveiling of the Deltapine Class of 2026 cottonseed varieties — the culmination of a season-long assessment process which took place on farms across the breadth of the Cotton Belt.
The NPE producers are part and parcel of Deltapine’s seed variety evaluation process. Each season, NPE farmers plant trial plots of pre-commercial Deltapine varieties on their own farms. Over the course of the season, they are given the freedom to manage those varieties in the field as they see fit, while providing feedback to company representatives on the varieties’ respective performance.
The highlight of the NPE Summit came when Bayer announced it had chosen to advance five new varieties for commercial availability in the 2026 season:
- DP 2618 B3TXF
- DP 2632 B3TXF
- DP 2635 B3TXF
- DP2624NR B3TXF
- DP 2644NR XF
But this year’s NPE Summit served a dual purpose, as it always intends to do. In addition to providing a special backdrop to announce the new varieties, the event is also Bayer’s way of thanking and rewarding the producers who provided necessary effort and expertise in the process.
As Deltapine cotton product manager, Eric Best works closely with these NPE producers during the season. Speaking at the Summit, he recounted the many ways producers give generous effort to the NPE process — from slowing down at plant time to load seed hoppers designated for specific NPE plots, to harvesting and ginning the NPE varieties separately in order to gauge yield and fiber qualities accurately.
“The NPE summit is just a small token of our appreciation for all the work they do,” said Best. “We want to give them time to decompress, get with their peers within that NPE family, share the learnings, and hopefully increase their profitability across the industry in the coming years.”
Producers on hand at the NPE Summit expressed appreciation for the benefits they see from participating in the NPE program. Nick McMichen, who farms in Centre, AL, has been an NPE producer since the program began in 2008.
“On top of the agronomic benefit, we have real input in the process,” said McMichen. “It’s beneficial on so many levels.
“By virtue of seeing these varieties first-hand in development, and getting to hear what happens with them in varied environments, you understand how they handle stress, different irrigation levels, and differences in soil types. It’s really immeasurable the benefits we’ve gained from this.”
McMichen says that since joining NPE, he has planted at least one variety each season that he saw on his operation in a pre-commercial NPE plot the year before. He also values the friendships and relationships he’s made within the NPE community over the years.
“Getting to interact with those folks at the NPE Summit and getting to hang out — to see what’s in the breeding pipeline but also to sit around and have a cocktail and talk about things other than cotton — it’s just a great atmosphere,” McMichen said.
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