Deltapine Working to Enhance Variety Performance and Grower Excitement
November 15, 2024 From Cotton Grower’s Cottonseed Roundup (November 2024)
There have been better years for cotton production than 2024 – and certainly worse years. But cotton growers being cotton growers, they always do what they do best regardless of weather, markets, and other factors.
“We know the ag economy in general is fairly depressed right now,” says Eric Best, Deltapine Cotton Product Manager. “But growers are still happy to show you what they’ve done this year on their farms and still be excited about the crop they have.”
A lot of that excitement comes from the performance of new and established Deltapine varieties this season.
“We have a really strong lineup of B3XF varieties, and in the Mid-South and Southeast, there are some ThryvOn (B3TXF) varieties really coming on. A lot of folks – especially in the Carolinas, Southeast, and portions of the North Delta – are excited about what they’re seeing this year with DP 2414 B3TXF, which is an early-mid maturity variety, and from DP 2328 B3TXF which is also showing pretty good promise in those same regions.
Those new ThryvOn varieties face some stout competition from established varieties like DP 2127 B3XF and DP 2333 B3XF, which Best refers to as “the giant in the room.”
“DP 2333 B3XF seems to be the most consistent B3XF product we have,” he says. “Whether you’re talking about the North Delta, the South Delta, across Alabama and Georgia or even into the Carolinas, it looks to be very, very strong.”
In the tough environment of West Texas, several varieties from the Deltapine Class of ’18 are still consistent performers, with newer options like DP 2123 B3XF and DP 2335 B3XF coming on strong. For East and South Texas, the new ThryvOn varieties established a good foothold this season, up against some traditionally strong checks like DP 2012 B3XF, DP 2020 B3XF, and the long-time stand-by DP 1646 B2XF.
Tough Decisions Coming for Deltapine Class of ‘25
This season marks the 17th year of the Deltapine New Product Evaluator (NPE) Program with growers across the Cotton Belt evaluating new varieties for a spot in the Deltapine Class of ’25. When you consider the Deltapine varieties that have been on the market for several years, the bar is set pretty high for the upcoming class.
“We’re on the tail end of our B3XF pipeline,” says Best, “but we evaluated several B3XF varieties in this NPE class, as well as another round of ThryvOn products. Looking at some of these varieties and knowing where the yield bar has been set, I get pretty excited about this class and how good they look against some very strong commercial checks.”
Nine potential varieties – five B3TXF and four B3XF – were evaluated by NPE growers this season. Depending on geography, growers will see five or six varieties specific to their region. The lineup includes candidates with a range of maturities and native trait tolerances to reniform nematode, root-knot nematode, and bacterial blight.
“I’m excited about the options we have, but I don’t envy the NPE growers,” notes Best. “They have some tough decisions to make.”
The Deltapine Class of ’25 will be announced during the company’s NPE Summit in December.
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