Bayer CropScience offers new FiberMax and Stoneville cotton varieties for 2011

Bayer CropScience announces five new FiberMax® varieties and one new Stoneville® variety for 2011. These new varieties increase the extensive Bayer CropScience cottonseed portfolio and give growers additional options to place the right variety on the right field.

In addition to diverse geographic adaptability and maturity ranges, these varieties offer several trait choices, including new GlyTol® glyphosate-tolerant technology, LibertyLink® technology, and, in a first for the industry, a two-gene herbicide stack with both GlyTol and LibertyLink.

Jeff Brehmer, U.S. marketing manager for FiberMax and Stoneville, said these varieties give growers excellent germplasm with the latest trait packages available in the cotton industry.

"We work every day to provide growers with the best cotton varieties in the market so they can increase yield and profitability on their farms,” Brehmer said. “We bring new varieties to market that meet or exceed our current standards. Each of these new cotton varieties offers something unique – whether a varietal characteristic or a trait package – that gives growers additional tools for profitable cotton production.”

Four new FiberMax varieties adapted for the Southwest will offer GlyTol technology in 2011. GlyTol provides season-long in-plant tolerance to glyphosate and sets a new standard for glyphosate-tolerance technology. GlyTol technology gives growers the freedom to choose any brand of glyphosate registered for use on cotton, unless expressly prohibited on the herbicide label.

FM 9101GT and FM 9103GT were planted by Southwest seed production growers for the past two years and have excellent yield and quality potential. FM 9101GT has an early-mid maturity, while FM 9103GT has an early maturity. Both varieties will be available in good supply for 2011.

FM 2011GT is a new variety with GlyTol technology that demonstrated great performance in Bayer CropScience Cotton Agronomic Performance (CAP) trials in 2010. It has an early maturity with very strong yield potential. It will be available in limited quantities in 2011.

FM 9250GL is double-stacked with both GlyTol and LibertyLink technologies, which marks the first introduction to the market of a cotton variety with full tolerance and outstanding crop safety to both glyphosate and Ignite® herbicides. This trait package will empower cotton growers with more freedom to choose the herbicide that will optimize weed management on each individual farm. FM 9250GL is an early maturing variety adapted to the Southwest with agronomic characteristics similar to FM 9058F.

Bayer CropScience is developing FiberMax and Stoneville cotton varieties tolerant to both glyphosate and Ignite with Bt technology for geographies across the Cotton Belt.

In addition to the varieties with new herbicide trait packages, FiberMax is also releasing a new Roundup Ready® Flex/Bollgard II® variety – FM 2484B2F. FM 2484B2F has performed extremely well across the Southwest region with trial results indicating very high yield potential and outstanding fiber quality.

FM 2484B2F is well suited for dryland conditions and irrigated production where it demonstrates its genetic potential when managed for high yields under good irrigation and fertilization. Early university trial results indicate FM 2484B2F has good tolerance to Verticillium wilt and provides growers a great option for fields susceptible to this disease.

In 2011, Stoneville will offer its first variety with LibertyLink technology, ST 4145LLB2. Adapted for the Mid-South, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic production regions, ST 4145LLB2 combines the trusted early seedling vigor of Stoneville cotton with the LibertyLink trait to give growers a high-yielding variety paired with a valuable weed-resistance management tool.

The LibertyLink trait with Ignite herbicide enables growers to keep weed management efficient while providing an effective tool to manage resistance or rotate chemistries on their farms.
Steve Nichols, U.S. agronomic manager for Bayer CropScience, said the performance of ST 4145LLB2 has been excellent in the Mid-South, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, where it won many CAP trials.

"ST 4145LLB2 has yield performance equal to or better than our current top Stoneville varieties, and growers also get full crop safety and tolerance to Ignite herbicide,” Nichols said. “Stoneville has a legacy of proven variety performance. Growers who have glyphosate resistant weeds or who want to rotate herbicide programs for resistance management will find this high-yielding variety an outstanding fit in their farming operation."

ST 4145LLB2 is an early-mid maturing variety with a broad fit from Louisiana to North Carolina. It will be sold in limited quantities in 2011 with full availability in 2012. Growers should contact their Bayer CropScience sales representative or regional cotton agronomist for more information.

For more information on FiberMax cotton seed visit www.FiberMax.com;

for more information on Stoneville cotton seed visit www.Stoneville.com.