It’s no secret that 2022 was a tough year for many cotton growers, depending on geography. But for Armor, one of the newer cotton seed brands, the year showed market share growth as its flagship varieties attracted more acceptance.
“It’s been really positive,” says Robert Cossar, Cotton Product Manager for Armor. “We saw growth as a brand that’s been really, really positive this year, and we’re looking to continue that going into 2023.”
Two varieties – Armor 9371 B3XF and Armor 9831 B3XF – did most of the heavy lifting for the company this season. Both were released in 2021 with very limited supplies and almost completely sold out for 2022.
“9371 has been extremely positive for growers because it’s a very high yielding variety, but we don’t take a backstep on fiber quality,” says Cossar. “We‘re consistently running 37-to-38 fiber. It was one of the top performing varieties in OVTs across the South last year.”
The early-to-mid maturity variety showed good results and strong versatility from North Carolina into Georgia and on across the Cotton Belt to West Texas.
“It’s a rare variety that has that broad footprint and versatility to go to West Texas from the Carolinas,” notes Cossar. “But 9371 is showing that. I’ve had in on some truly heavy ground in the Delta as well as some sand in places, and it continues to perform. It’s a really, really positive variety for Armor, and it’s going to be our number one variety moving forward.”
Armor 9831 B3XF is a full maturity variety that’s right at home in Georgia but also fits well in Coastal South Carolina and across the lower Mid-South through South Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Southern Arkansas. It has also demonstrated success for growers in the Concho Valley near San Angelo, TX.
“It’s not an overly aggressive variety that requires a lot of PGR management,” adds Cossar, “just a little tapping of the brakes early. It sets fruit and has a wider canopy, so it’s able to fill those 36-to-38-inch rows. It matures off very easily. It just has ‘that look’ to it. I tell farmers that this is the variety you want to plant on your road frontage.”
Armor also released two varieties – Armor 9442 XF and Armor 9512 B3XF – for the West Texas market last year to complement some older B3XF varieties that are still showing good performance.
“We’re continuing to build out the Armor brand and build up our variety offerings as we continue to grow market share,” says Cossar.
Like most other cotton seed companies, Armor is adding the ThryvOn insect technology into its breeding program and tested several ThryvOn varieties in 2021 and five potential varieties in 2022. It’s a technology that Cossar believes holds a lot of promise going forward.
“The yields on these ThryvOn varieties are very competitive with our B3XF offerings, and it’s probably the direction that Armor will move once all approvals are finalized,” he says. “Until then, we’ll continue with our B3XF products and will be ready with ThryvOn germplasm for 2023 or 2024, whenever those approvals come through. I see this technology having a quick adoption rate.”