Seed Company Review: Deltapine Keeps Performing in a Tough Year

Keylon Gholston has been looking for good news in this year’s cotton production. But late planting, too much heat and untimely rains and storms left spots of optimism fewer and far between.

“It’s going to be difficult to finish out the late crop in Virginia and the Carolinas,” says Gholston, Deltapine Cotton Product Manager. “East Texas did well but was a little below average. Arizona has some heat damage but still has a good crop. And we won’t even talk about west Texas.

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“In the Delta, we had the most amazing first position retention I’ve ever seen,” he adds. “Overall, I think the Mid-South is going to have a pretty good crop. It was fixing to be a record breaking crop, but it’s still going to be good.”

When you’re working from a position of strength in the market (36.9% of U.S. upland cotton acres according to USDA’s 2020 Cotton Varieties Planted report), it’s easier to find gems of promise. And in 2020, Deltapine varieties continued to perform despite harsh conditions in many areas.

“Out of our commercial lineup today, DP 1646 B2XF and DP 1725 B2XF continue to be standouts and both had another phenomenal year,” says Gholston. “And when you get into the new Class of 20 varieties, I haven’t seen a single one that didn’t look great in the field.”

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Based on his observations, Gholston offered a quick recap of how the new varieties performed this year:

  • “DP 2012 B3XF is a really early season variety that has as much strength of terminal in it than any early season variety I’ve ever seen. It looked good everywhere, irrigated or dryland.”
  • “DP 2020 B3XF has proven to be an early season workhorse. It has shorter stature and is easy to manage.”
  • “DP 2038B3XF is a mid-season variety that could very well set a new yield bar for us. It has the boll count to do it.”
  • “DP 2055 B3XF has performed very well in the full season environments of south Georgia, the south Delta and southern Texas.”
  • “DP 2044 B3XF really looked strong where it had any opportunity to perform in a tough year in west Texas.”
  • “DP 2022 B3XF went on some heavy Verticillium wilt ground in the northern High Plains and looked really good where it had enough water.”

Looking ahead to 2021, Gholston is impressed with what he’s seen from the potential Class of 21 varieties that the company’s New Product Evaluator (NPE) growers have worked with this year.

“I went into this year thinking it was going to be hard to beat the Class of 20,” he says. “But I think there are three or four varieties in the Class of 21 that really show some promise.”

Eight varieties were in the NPE trial program this year, including two featuring the root knot nematode/reniform nematode resistance stack. Both of those, says Gholston, have looked impressive in nematode conditions.

Two unique sets of germplasm also under consideration could bring some different options to the market. One variety has an open canopy which would allow more air flow through the plant – especially helpful in years like 2020 when conditions are right for boll rot. Gholston describes the other variety as a “bushy, growthy plant with a lot of strength of terminal.” Initial fiber data shows quality characteristics much like Acala.

“We have some sorting to do,” he notes. “But there’s some good stuff in there.”

 

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