Cotton the next crop to benefit from Meristem’s NexGen Bio-Capsule Technology™

Date:10-20-2023

Keeping microbes alive and vigorous is bringing big benefits to corn and soybean growers this year, and Meristem Crop Performance^® announced a new industry-leading formulation for cotton growers.

″Massive roots, more nutrients, higher yields — farmers are seeing great results this season with REVLINE^® HOPPER THROTTLE™ powered by our BIO-CAPSULE microbial delivery system,″ said Mitch Eviston, Meristem’s Founder and CEO. ″Now cotton farmers will be able to gain the advantage of our patented delivery system.″

REVLINE HOPPER THROTTLE COTTON contains a full collection of microbes and micronutrients safely packaged for convenient deployment at planting. REVLINE HOPPER THROTTLE COTTON’s BIO-CAPSULEs are charged with a newly added, crop-specific strain of Terrasym^® for cotton in conjunction with a powerful consortium of 10 bio-fertility and N-fixing microbes that focuses on the nutritional needs and stresses facing cotton. In addition, Meristem’s new Active Carbon Technology™ feeds these aggressive microbes and helps protect the cotton crop during events that bring plant stress. All of these unique offerings are released at planting in conjunction with a micronutrient blend featuring manganese and IONLOCK™ zinc. It’s carried to the seed in an 80/20 talc/graphite seed fluency agent, and each pail treats 20 units of cotton at planting.

In-field research has demonstrated up to 10-times the number of live microbes can be delivered through the planter box when compared to seed treatment or liquid starter. The benefit is fast emergence, a strong stand, and better plant health all season long.

″The cotton we treated with REVLINE HOPPER THROTTLE COTTON came up to a better stand and had better vigor than the untreated blocks from the start,″ said Lee Baynes, who raises 8,000 acres cotton at Tibbs Farms in West Tennessee and ran comparisons with the new cotton formulation. ″This is a big deal for us on cotton seedlings, which are weak by nature. Anything to help push that crop beyond thrips and nematode pressure is a big win.″ He added that he also liked the convenience of delivery through the hopper box, because it was no different than using conventional talc/graphite.

″I’ve spent 10 years working with biologicals,″ says Chris Thrasher, Meristem’s Director of Innovation and Product Management. ″I’ve had the pleasure of working with some very good biological technologies, but we’ve never had a dependable way to keep microbes vigorous all the way to field level and in high enough concentration to benefit crops the most.″ Thrasher says he’s excited to see it come to farmers who raise cotton.

″Now we are able to bring the proper load of bios and micros to the crop and put them, safely, right where they need to be,″ Thrasher explains. ″As an industry, we’ve tried to put more on the seed through seed treatment, but available space on the seed is limited. Now we can adhere to the seed in a high enough concentration to improve the effectiveness of biologicals.″

Thrasher explains that the BIO-CAPSULE will carry innovative technology like the new ION-LOCK Zinc, specially formulated to effectively deliver 10 times the zinc to each of those seeds through the planter box. ″When you have the right material in the right place for that seed, it’s like getting perfect delivery of a shot of adrenaline,″ he says.