Bayer releases new cotton varieties

Bayer has announced recently it is releasing three new varieties of cotton for the 2016 planting season. The varieties are two Stoneville and one fibreMax variety and all three will have the proprietary Bayer traits of GlyTol, LibertyLink and TwinLink technologies. The purpose of GlyTol and LibertyLink is to provide farmers with extra protection against hard to control weeds. TwinLink technology includes two Bt genes for protection against cotton bollworm, pink bollworm, tobacco budworm and other lepidopteran pests.

?We?re excited to announce these new fibreMax and Stoneville varieties for 2016 because they expand our current variety portfolio and help address real challenges to production issues that growers face year-to-year on their individual farms,? Jeff Brehmer, US product manager for fibreMax and Stoneville, said. ?US cotton growers know what they need in challenging, often adverse, conditions. Our goal is to work with them in an ongoing cooperative effort to give them new tools each year to help them realise their maximum profit potential.?

Bayer uses yearly Cotton Agronomic Performance trials to test the new varieties in different, on-farm locations across the Cotton Belt. This helps farmers and consultants to see first-hand how the products work in different scenarios and stresses. The trials showed the new fibreMax variety works best in the southwest high plains but it also tested well across many environments. The Stoneville ST 4848GLT variety tested best in East Texas, the Mid-South, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, while the ST 4949GLT did best in the Mid-South, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast.