By Jim Steadman
Once again, the Deltapine brand of upland cottonseed was the most popular brand planted in the U.S. this year, according to the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service’s 2017 Cotton Varieties Planted report.
The Americot/NexGen brands were the second most popular varieties planted, followed by PhytoGen, Bayer’s FiberMax brand, All-Tex/Dyna-Gro and Bayer’s Stoneville brand.
Deltapine’s DP 1646 B2XF was the top upland variety planted in the U.S. this year, commanding 14.7% of total cotton acres. Last year’s top variety – NG 3406 B2XF from Americot – was second in 2017 with nearly 11% of overall acres.
According to the report released on September 29, Deltapine brand upland varieties accounted for 35.9% of the U.S. acreage in 2017. Regionally, Deltapine varieties were planted on 56% of acres in the Southeast (AL, FL, GA, NC, SC, VA), 61.7% of Mid-South acres (AR, LA, MS, MO, TN), 22.5% of cotton acres in the Southwest (TX, OK, KS), and 24.1% of Western acres (AZ, CA, NM). In addition to DP 1646 B2XF, other popular Deltapine varieties included DP 1518 B2XF, DP 1522 B2XF and DP 1538 B2XF.
Americot/NexGen claimed 27% of the 2017 acreage, including 10.8% of Southeast acres, 8.1% in the Mid-South, 38.7% of Southwest acres, and less than 1% in the West. Top varieties included NG 3406 B2XF, NG 4545 B2XF, NG 3500 XF and NG 3517 B2XF.
PhytoGen brand varieties accounted for 14.4% of U.S. upland cotton acres. The varieties were planted on 21.3% of Southeast acres, 14.8% of Mid-South acres, 11.4% of Southwest acres, and 22.4% of Western acres, led by PHY 444 WRF, PHY 333 WRF and PHY 490 W3FE.
Bayer’s FiberMax brand varieties accounted for 9.6% of the U.S. acreage. The varieties were planted on less than 1% of Southeast and Mid-South acres, 13.9% of Southwest acres and 43.6% of Western acres. Most popular FiberMax varieties for 2017 were FM 1830GLT, FM 2011GT and FM 2334GLT.
All-Tex/Dyna-Gro varieties accounted for about 7% of the U.S. acres, with its strongest showing in the Southwest (9.8% of acres). Bayer’s Stoneville brand varieties accounted for 4.6% of total U.S. acres, including 8.2% of the acres in both the Southeast and Mid-South.