Seed Company Review: New NexGen Varieties Generating Excitement
November 16, 2020 After wrapping up a stressful year like 2019, most cotton growers, especially in Texas, were looking forward to a little less adventure in 2020.
Well, that didn’t happen. But two new NexGen brand varieties released by Americot for the 2020 season – NG 4050 XF and NG 4098 B3XF – did give growers across the state something to get excited about.
“The yield potential and fiber quality of both varieties really has Americot excited,” says Doug Jost, Director of Research and Cotton Germplasm for Americot. “Both varieties really shined in our ACE trials last year, and we wondered what the varieties would do in a more normal year. So, we get an even more stressed year and, so far, they’re looking very, very good.”
NG 4050 XF is a medium maturing XtendFlex-only variety well suited for the Texas plains. NG 4098 B3XF is a broadly adapted mid-maturity variety with the Bollgard 3 XtendFlex Technology. Thanks to Americot’s breeding emphasis on fiber quality, both varieties came to market boasting excellent fiber characteristics.
Introduced in a limited commercial launch this year, the biggest challenge Americot faced was placing the seed in as many locations as possible. Jost says that really wasn’t a problem.
“For example, NG 4098 B3XF was one of the easiest varieties to sell this year,” he explains. “Our sales staff told growers that we had to limit the number of bags each could get. It was crazy how fast it sold out.”
Grower response to NG 4098 B3XF has been positive. “This was one of those years when most growers struggled to get good stands,” says Jost. “But 4098 just powered out of the ground. It’s one of the most vigorous varieties we have, and growers were extremely happy about that. It grows off well and is just a pleasing looking plant in the field.”
USDA’s 2020 Cotton Varieties Planted report showed Americot firmly in second place in total market share, winning roughly 28% of total upland cotton acreage in the U.S. That’s a tribute to the company’s portfolio strength from one side of the Cotton Belt to the other and to the strides made by Americot’s team of cotton breeders.
“There’s a lot of support for Americot from growers because they see a farmer-based company trying to make it in the cottonseed world,” notes Jost. “I think we’re on par with any other cottonseed company in terms of yield, and we’re right there in terms of fiber quality. Our breeders are doing a heck of a job with some of the new products coming our way, especially with some of the staple lengths we’re seeing in some of our new variety candidates.”
Cotton Breeders Tom Brooks and Lloyd McCall have several promising varieties at different stages in their research pipeline. “I’m excited about the next few years with offerings coming for the west Texas region,” says Brooks. “We’re looking at a high quality disease package with Verticillium wilt tolerance and bacterial blight resistance, improved staple length, and a high quality XtendFlex-only variety to fit some of our lower input acres.”
“We put a lot of emphasis on fiber quality,” says McCall, “and we’ve whittled that down to six good strong candidates as options for 2021. We’re looking for something that’s broadly adapted and can fit in a lot of different places.
“This could be one of those years where it’s hard to make the decisions,” he adds. “And that’s a pretty good position to be in.”
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