Agricultural News
See How You Can Order Dryland Cotton Varieties to Mitigate Drought Risk This Season
Wed, 16 Feb 2022 14:01:01 CST
As spring draws closer, cotton farmers in the Southern Plains may be starting to create their pre-planting shopping list. Although 2022 is forecast to be a big year for cotton in the U.S., drought conditions and inflation are and will continue to be two issues for farmers.
Recently, KC Sheperd, the farm director for the Oklahoma Farm Report, sat down with Kenny Melton, western region agronomic manager at BASF, to discuss some brand-new products that producers can take advantage of this year.
"Producers have to plan what cotton varieties they are planning around chemicals," Melton said. "A lot of chemicals are in shorter supply because of the supply chain constraints that have come about."
Growers across the Cotton Belt who want hardy, early-season vigor can plant Stoneville 4595B3XF with confidence. It is a new early-to-mid maturity variety that is very adaptable, with strong emergence and a good fiber package. Its Liberty herbicide, Engenia herbicide and glyphosate tolerant and contains three-gene lepidopteran resistance, which decreases the likelihood additional worm control measures will be needed.
"It performed very well in trials," Melton said. "It was either the top variety or in the top three varieties. It does pretty well on dryland, but it is not as consistent on dryland, so probably focus this variety on irrigated ground."
Since Stoneville 4595B3XF is new, Melton warns that the supplies are already low. Producers may only get enough to plant a test plot on their property.
Since we are looking at prolonged drought at this time, Melton said BASF has a few options for producers planning for a dry season.
"One, in particular, is Stoneville 5707B2XF," Melton said. "We specifically gear that towards dry land and limited irrigation production. I would not plant that on irrigated ground, because it does not have the upper-end yield potential that something like 4595 would have."
He said another great variety is Stoneville 4993B3XF, which does well on dry and irrigated land. It is another new early-to-mid maturity variety that is very adaptable, with strong emergence and a good fiber package. Its Liberty herbicide, Engenia herbicide and glyphosate tolerant and contains three-gene lepidopteran resistance, which decreases the likelihood additional worm control measures will be needed.
"Its bowl type is pretty tight in the burr, so we do not worry about that falling out, but it still picks good," Melton said. "Whether you are running a cotton stripper or a cotton picker, that variety is going to do well."
With little rain in the forecast, Melton said there are options out there to mitigate drought risk.
Hit the LISTEN BAR below to hear KC Sheperd and Kenny Melton talk about what cotton seed varieties BASF offers when things begin to dry up and more ahead of the 2022 cotton season.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
Top Agricultural News
More Headlines...