Over 100 farmers gathered in San Antonio over the weekend to discuss the latest class of Monsanto’s Deltapine cotton varieties. The varieties, which will be released in 2016, were tested by farmers in 2015 in parts of Texas and other states.
Tom Nicolette, host of Focus on Agriculture on the Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) Radio Network, spoke with one tester, Jeremy Louder, following the meeting in San Antonio.
“The biggest change in these varieties over what we’ve tested in the past is an increase in staple, which is becoming more and more important to our overseas markets,” Louder, a West Texas cotton farmer, said. “That, combined with the XtendFlex technology, has really given us an edge from what we’ve had in the past with Deltapine and other seed companies.”
Louder is part of the new product evaluator program. As a participant, he is able to test cotton varieties a year or two before they become commercially available.
He explains that yields are better on the new varieties of cotton.
“It’s not normal to see this big of a jump in yield and quality all in the same package,” Louder said. “It’s hard to get both to go hand-in-hand moving forward.”
Nicolette’s full interview with Louder can be heard here: http://bit.ly/1Z8PtQJ.