Deltapine Class of ’10
January 13, 2010 Monsanto Company announced that it will release six new cotton varieties in its Deltapine Class of ‘10.
More than 160 farmers across the Cotton Belt participated in the New Product Exposure (NPE) program this summer, testing some of the 13 candidates on their farms. The results of the feedback and test plot data were presented to many of the NPE growers in Charleston, SC, on December 12. Additional information will be available at the 2010 Beltwide Cotton Conferences in New Orleans, January 4-7.
“We think these varieties will change the game and increase yield,” said Dave Rhylander, Monsanto Brand Manager, Deltapine. “We all want cotton acres to come back. But the question is, how do we do that? Prices will have to go up, and we’ve seen them starting to move back up. Another area is cost and trying to find ways to hold them down. And the last is increased yield.
“At Monsanto, there’s not a lot we can do about commodity prices. We can help with costs, but it’s not going to be anything that’s going to help drive cotton acres. The thing Monsanto can do the most is take resources and apply them to help you figure out how to lift your yield and quality curve quicker. If we can add 100 more pounds per acre, we think that puts cotton back as a better option than what it has been.”
Added Monsanto Cotton Breeding Lead Trevor Hohls, “For us, it’s all about the genetics gain so that we can bring the kind of products that not only have increased yields, but also have the high quality that you demand. Our technology pipeline is driven by two main engines – breeding and biotechnology. They operate as parallels that enable us to combine the germplasm and traits as effectively as possible in the seeds that we ultimately sell to you as a grower.”
Rhylander said the purpose of the NPE trials was to test the new varieties in the “real world.”
“Growers told us six-row test plots were good, but, ‘We don’t grow six rows. We grow fields,’” Rhylander explained.
“Growers told us they wanted us to bring our varieties to their farms to be tested on a large-scale basis. They wanted to grow them just like they would a commercial variety and then evaluate them.”
To growers, he said, field experience is more important than plot experience.
The new varieties are:
• DP 1028 B2RF — an early to mid-maturing variety for the upper Mid-South and upper Southeast.
• DP 1034 B2RF — a mid-maturing variety for the upper Mid-South and upper Southeast.
• DP 1032 B2RF — a mid-maturing variety for Texas.
• DP 1044 B2RF — a mid- to full-season variety for Texas.
• DP 1048 B2RF — a mid- to full-season variety for the lower Southeast, lower Southeast and South Texas.
• DP 1050 B2RF — a full-season variety for the lower Southeast and lower Mid-South.
“Thank you for your participation in the New Product Exposure program and for allowing me to come on a lot of your farms multiple times and look at these varieties throughout the year,” Keylon Gholston, Monsanto Cotton Line Product Manager told the NPE growers. “Your input into this process is why we’re here. You’re input is why these varieties are being commercialized.”
“Maturity wise, we think these are complimentary lines to the Class of ’09,” added Dave Albers, Monsanto Technology Manager.
Starting from earliest to latest:
• DP 0912 B2RF
• DP 0929 B2RF
• DP 0924 B2RF
• DP 1028 B2RF
• DP 1032 B2RF
• DP 1034 B2RF
• DP 0935 B2RF
• DP 1044 B2RF
• DP 1048 B2RF
• DP 0949 B2RF
• DP 1050 B2RF
“With all of these new varieties coming to market over the last two years, I’m having growers asking me if we’re bringing products to market too quickly,” Rhylander said. “What I want to say is ‘no.’ What we’re bringing is genetics with higher yield.”
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