FiberMax and Stoneville cotton from Bayer bring .U.S. growers four high-performing new varieties for 2018

Cotton growers face many challenges in the field, but growers who plant FiberMax® and Stoneville® cotton seed varieties have a combination well suited to overcome those hurdles: the science behind their varieties and their well-honed management skills. Today, Bayer announced commercial availability of four varieties that were introduced earlier this year, giving growers access to diversified solutions to combat pest and disease pressures in the field.

"Bayer provides growers with an impressive portfolio of variety options to optimize profit potential, maximize performance and increase yield potential," says Jason Wistehuff, Bayer product manager for FiberMax and Stoneville cotton. "A grower-centric focus drives Bayer's commitment to creating varieties that are top performers in the battle against pest and disease resistance — and these new varieties are coming to the ring ready to fight."

In addition to offering high yield potential, the lineup targets agronomic issues that were prevalent for growers this year, such as bacterial blight resistance, storm tolerance and worm resistance.

All four varieties feature GlyTol® and LibertyLink® traits. GlyTol LibertyLink technology in cotton allows growers greater flexibility in weed management and control of herbicide-resistant weeds. Three of the new varieties also include TwinLink® and TwinLink Plus traits, which provide growers season-long Bt protection against major lepidopteran pests, such as tobacco budworm, cotton bollworm, pink bollworm and beet armyworm.

Proven weed-control traits are essential in this era of resistance. Each of the new varieties from FiberMax and Stoneville is equipped with exclusive Bayer herbicide-tolerant traits: GlyTol and LibertyLink.

• LibertyLink arms growers with the ability to apply Liberty® herbicide in-season. Liberty herbicide used in an effective herbicide program in LibertyLink crops has been proven to provide the most effective broad-spectrum control of challenging weeds, including weed species resistant to other herbicides, including Palmer amaranth (pigweed), marestail, morning glory, kochia and annual grasses.
• GlyTol provides the flexibility of over-the-top glyphosate herbicide treatment and delivers proven crop safety to various glyphosate formulations with no impact on yield, quality or plant height.

The FiberMax varieties are:

FM 1953GLTP

• An early/medium maturity GlyTol LibertyLink TwinLink Plus variety that provides bacterial blight resistance and enhanced protection against bollworm and fall armyworm. FM 1953GLTP has shown excellent yield potential and fiber quality across a wide range of environments. Bred for the South Texas growing environment, this variety also has shown a wide adaptation for the Rolling Plains, Eastern Texas and Oklahoma.

Texas crop consultant Justin Chopelas has watched this variety since its experimental trials. For the 2017 season, he reports four-plus-bale yields in several fields, quality in premium ranges with no discounts and good drought and storm tolerance.

"We really tested our varieties here this year. Worm control is always an issue here locally. We have pyrethroid-resistant boll worms. We've had that population since the early 2000s. Now we have TwinLink Plus and it seems to have a little better control on some of the additional worm problems that we have," Chopelas says. "As for the whole season, FiberMax 1953GLTP looked great. It looked like a linebacker coming out of the ground. It has big strong leaves, a good strong stalk and it grew off strong all season. So, I'm looking forward to seeing more and more acres of TwinLink Plus varieties."

"Growers are looking for quality varieties and we feel like the FiberMax 1953GLTP can really set a new standard for that," adds Bayer Regional Agronomist Health Reeves. "FiberMax 1953GLTP really holds onto the fiber quality even under very stressful conditions."

FM 1888GL

• An early/medium maturity variety that offers outstanding yield potential and consistent performance in the High Plains. FM 1888GL offers bacterial blight resistance alongside the weed control traits West Texas growers need to control weeds: GlyTol and LibertyLink. This variety starts strong with great early season vigor, features good storm tolerance to hold the bolls, and finishes with high gin turnout and great fiber quality.

Growers looking for a compact plant similar to FM 1830GLT and FM 2011GT should consider FM 1888GL, says Bayer Regional Agronomist Tim Culpepper. "In my area, FM 1888GL topped the yield tests in both irrigated and dryland," Culpepper says. "It offers very high yield potential and good quality in all environments. The FM 1888GL outyielded FM 2322GL in some of FM 2322GL's best environments."

The Stoneville varieties are:

ST 5020GLT

• A medium maturity variety that delivers bacterial blight resistance and has the best fiber package available in a Stoneville variety. Bred for the Eastern Cotton Belt – including the Southeast, Delta and Mid-Atlantic, ST 5020GLT offers excellent early-season vigor, outstanding fiber quality and yield potential that is stable across a wide range of environments. ST 5020GLT delivers the exclusive Bayer herbicide-tolerant and Bt traits growers need to manage their crops for high yield: TwinLink, to provide season-long resistance to a broad spectrum of worms; and GlyTol and LibertyLink to control herbicide-resistant and tough weeds with the unique site of action provided by Liberty herbicide.

"Stoneville 5020GLT explodes out of the ground with exceptional early-season vigor and continues growing strong all season long. ST 5020GLT offers Bayer's proven herbicide and insect trait package, delivers excellent yield and stable fiber quality across a range of environments," says Jenny Cahoon, Bayer regional agronomist.

ST 5517GLTP

• A later medium maturity variety with the industry-leading three-gene Bt technology of TwinLink Plus, ST 5517GLTP provides excellent early season vigor and standability, bacterial blight resistance and good storm tolerance. Growers can look to this variety for exceptional yield potential and fiber quality across a wide range of environments – from Virginia to the Rolling Plains of Texas and Oklahoma.

"ST 5517GLTP is our first Stoneville variety with TwinLink Plus, which provides broader protection and resistance management of major lepidopteran pests in cotton," says Scott Asher, Eastern region agronomic manager. "It has shown excellent emergence, even under some of the challenging planting conditions that growers faced in the Southeast and other parts of the Eastern Cotton Belt in 2017. With exceptional yield potential, a good fiber package and bacterial blight resistance, it meets the key needs of cotton growers across a wide geography."

In addition to the four new varieties for 2018, FiberMax and Stoneville continue to offer a stellar lineup of varieties that offer the high yield potential, premium quality, herbicide tolerance and disease and insect resistance growers need to choose the right seed for the right field. Bayer plans to release more varieties this winter. The new varieties to be announced in January 2018 will have limited seed availability.