Deltapine Leads Cotton Varieties Planted In 2015

By Jim Steadman

The Deltapine brand of Upland cottonseed was the most popular planted in the U.S. this year, according to the USDA  Agricultural Marketing Service’s Cotton Varieties Planted report for 2015.

The FiberMax and Stoneville brands from Bayer CropScience placed second and third respectively in the rankings, followed by PhytoGen, Americot, Dyna-Gro and All-Tex.

According to the report, Deltapine brand varieties accounted for 31.2% of the U.S. acreage in 2015. Regionally, Deltapine varieties were planted on 50.1% of acres in the Southeast (AL, FL, GA, NC, SC, VA), 29.8% of Mid-South acres (AR, LA, MS, MO, TN), 23.7% of all acres in the Southwest (TX, OK, KS), and 24.9% of Western acres (AZ, CA, NM). The company’s most popular varieties were DP 1044 B2RF, DP 1219 B2RF, DP 1252 B2RF and DP 1553 B2XF.

Bayer CropScience’s FiberMax brand varieties accounted for 21.6% of the U.S. acreage. The varieties were planted on 3.7% of Southeast acres, 1.0% of Mid-South acres, 33.4 of Southwest acres, and 28.3% of Western acres. Most popular FiberMax varieties were FM 2011GT, FM 2484B2F, FM 9250GL and FM 1944GLB2.

Stoneville brand varieties accounted for 16.9% of total U.S. acres. They were planted on 13.4% of Southeast acres, 44.7% of Mid-South acres, 12.5% of Southwest acres, and 17.1% of Western acres. Most popular Stoneville varieties were ST 4946GLB2, ST 4747GLB2 and ST 6448GLB2.

PhytoGen brand varieties accounted for 15.3% of U.S. Upland cotton acres. The varieties were planted on 28.2% of Southeast acres, 17.5% of Mid-South acres, 9.0% of Southwest acres, and 23.2% of Western acres, led by PHY 499 WRF, PHY 333 WRF and PHY 339 WRF.

Americot brand varieties accounted for 6.4% of the U.S. acres, followed by Dyna-Gro with 4.9% of total acres, and All-Tex with 2.3% of the acres.

PhytoGen varieties were the primary choice for Pima cotton growers in 2015, accounting for 40.6% of all Pima acreage. The company’s PHY 811 RF was planted on 32.8% of Pima acres, followed by Deltapine’s DP 358 RF on 9.7% of Pima acres.

The report also noted that transgenic varieties – engineered for resistance to worms, herbicides or both – now account for about 98.8% of Upland cotton planted in the U.S. Usage of transgenic varieties was reported at 100% in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Mississippi, New Mexico and Tennessee. Other states planted from 95.9 to 99.6 percent to transgenics.