TechTour Showcases New Technology in West Texas
April 20, 2011 
Spring is a busy time for cotton growers across the Cotton Belt. Growers in the Southwest are preparing their land for planting during this time. They’re also sitting in on production meetings, traveling around to area auctions and generally making planting and equipment decisions for the coming season.
But that didn’t stop hundreds of growers from across the High Plains and Rolling Plains regions from participating in the GlyTol TechTour: Gaining the Competitive Edge. The week of March 21, the TechTour rolled through Amarillo, Plainview and Lubbock, TX, hosting large crowds at each stop. The events were powered by Cotton Grower magazine and sponsored by GlyTol and Bayer CropScience.
With three stops in West Texas and future stops planned throughout the Cotton Belt, the TechTour provides an opportunity for growers to interact with industry experts and learn about the latest cotton varieties and technologies from Bayer CropScience. Company representatives hoped that TechTour attendees would come away with a competitive edge for the 2011 season.
“The TechTours are designed for us to go to our growers and tell them face-to-face about the new technologies that we have coming along,” says Steve Nichols, Bayer CropScience U.S. agronomic manager.
“As the TechTour travels around the Cotton Belt, we’re talking about gaining that competitive edge. What we mean by ‘gaining the competitive edge’ is giving growers the tools they need: new varieties with enhanced fiber quality, improved yields and the technology to be sustainable and profitable on their farms,” Nichols says.
Crop protection was a common theme throughout the week, and cotton growers from the Oklahoma Panhandle to Lubbock were curious about how the new GlyTol technology would fit into their weed management programs. Experts such as Bayer CropScience agronomists Daniel Olivier and Kenny Melton and Extension weed scientist Dr. Wayne Keeling were on hand to share their research and thoughts on the new technology. Some growers in the audience who have tried the new GlyTol technology on their farms had their own experiences to share.
As attendees were pleased to discover, new FiberMax varieties with GlyTol technology have been put to the test in working environments during recent years. That field-tested experience will prove invaluable to first-time growers of the new GlyTol technology in 2011.
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