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FieldNotes
A COTTON PUBLICATION FOR FARMERS IN THE SOUTHEAST
VOLUME 10, ISSUE 2
Best bale ever produced
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ABBREVIATED RULES: No Purchase Necessary. Begins at 12:00:00 a.m. (CT) on 10/1/15 and ends at 11:59:59 p.m. (CT) on 3/20/16. Enter online by completing the registration form at
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We want to hear from you
Hank King
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Jones started planting PhytoGen cottonseed exclusively
in 2015 because he needed the yield and the excellent
grades to realize the maximum profit. For 2016, he
plans to plant PhytoGen brand PHY 333 WRF — of
course — as well as PhytoGen brand PHY 339 WRF,
PHY 444 WRF and PHY 312 WRF.
“I’ve just had really good success with PhytoGen,” Jones
says. “It’s a really strong cotton, and the varieties just
keep getting better and better.”
PhytoGen enjoys the exclusive distinction of having
delivered the most-planted Upland variety in the
United States for 4 of the past 5 years. The
most-planted Acala and Pima varieties planted in
the last five years also were PhytoGen® cottonseed.
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Cotton Development
Specialist
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Dow AgroSciences
Sales Representative
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“The gin had never had a bale like that,” Jones reports.
Over the 100 acres that Jones planted to PhytoGen®
brand PHY 444 WRF, the quality average was 31-3
and 40. “More like 40.5,” Jones says. “There was a lot
of long staple even though we had a lot of hot, dry
weather in July.”
Jones started growing cotton because PhytoGen Sales
Representative Kerry Saylors asked him to try it. “He’s
just a good guy,” Jones says. “He cares about you and he
cares that you’re growing cotton.”
High yield and excellent quality grab attention from growers
Our experienced staff is always
available to visit your farm to
discuss varieties and assist with
seed selection.
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“21-2 41,” says Jeff Jones, a New Market, Alabama,
cotton farmer. He’s rattling off the quality grade for a
bale of PhytoGen® brand PHY 444 WRF — one of his
bales. That’s a 21 color, 2 leaf and 41 staple for those
who have never seen those numbers on a cotton bale.
Jones and the North Alabama Gin in Hazel Green saw
them in 2015.
U.S. Marketing Leader
To us, that’s more than a sales statistic. We see it
as proof you trust PhytoGen to provide varieties
that deliver both high yield and excellent quality.
PhytoGen brand PHY 333 WRF, for example, was
available in limited quantities during 2015, yet it
was still the fourth-most-planted Upland variety.
That’s just one example. Across any soil type, whether
the field is dryland or irrigated, regardless of whether you need to plant
early or late, PhytoGen offers a variety that delivers the greatest opportunity
for profit in almost any growing situation.
Thank you for choosing to plant PhytoGen cottonseed — and for telling us
we’re on the right track.
For more information about PhytoGen® cottonseed or any other Dow AgroSciences products, call 800-258-3033.
Or email us at [email protected] or visit our website at PhytoGen.com.
This edition of FieldNotes has been sent to you on behalf of your PhytoGen sales representative.
Jeff Jones moved to planting 100 percent PhytoGen® cottonseed in 2015. The grades, as Jones reviews them in this 2015 report, “are just
unbelievable.” Essentially, Jones says, “PhytoGen varieties just seem to grow the way you expect cotton to grow. It starts loading early and
just grows all the way to the top.”
Gin increases bales by 40 percent
Palmetto Cotton Gin shipped out 40 percent more
cotton in 2014 than in 2013.
difference when you have the exact same customers
growing cotton on the same number of acres.”
“It was a good year,” says Ernie Muldrow, who
manages the gin in Bishopville, South Carolina.
Muldrow certainly recognizes that weather conditions
in 2014 were more conducive to high yields than in
either 2013 or 2015. “But that doesn’t explain that
Muldrow discovered her customers had dramatically
changed their variety lineup.
Muldrow particularly remembers the response from
one customer who grew PHY 499 WRF for the first
time in 2014.
Pounds + turnout + premium = higher price
Don’t weigh your cotton before it is ginned.
Growers who once worried about the downside of
cotton quality — those who focused on avoiding
deducts rather than earning premiums — now have
opportunities to increase the price paid for their
cotton.
“Make more, get more,” says Dr. Steve Brown,
PhytoGen cotton development specialist. “With the
same investment, a grower can realize a nice bump in
returns by picking a cotton that yields and has good to
excellent quality.”
The potential for upside starts with variety selection, of
course, but is realized in the steps between harvesting
a cotton field and pocketing the check — or checks.
Post-picking profit points are: turnout, premium
payments and seed rebates from the gin.
“A quick and comparative estimate in the recap sheet
from the gin is the calculated loan value,” Brown says,
noting the value is generated from the U.S. Department
of Agriculture loan chart. The loan value, he points out,
is an estimate.
“In the cash market, a grower could be paid more or
less. Still, it is a good composite number for comparing
qualities of varieties, field performance, etc.,” he says.
Review the gin report
For comparing varieties, growers can look across
module reports to compare the micronaire, staple,
strength and uniformity. These quality characteristics
can be influenced by variety and crop management.
Color grade and extraneous matter are influenced by
environmental conditions.
“When selecting varieties, it’s important to know
what’s available in commercial genetics, then manage it
to the best of your ability to preserve that high quality,”
says Dr. Russell Nuti, PhytoGen cotton development
specialist.
“The difference was PhytoGen,” Muldrow says. More
than 90 percent of the cotton growers brought to
the gin was from PhytoGen® cottonseed, primarily
PhytoGen brand PHY 499 WRF with PhytoGen brand
PHY 333 WRF and PHY 367 WRF also in the mix.
The yield was higher than in past years, and turnout
percentages also increased, Muldrow reports.
“He ended up with 3 bales an acre,” Muldrow recalls.
“He was just in shock at the premiums he was paid.”
That said, Palmetto Cotton Gin Manager Ernie Muldrow gives a lot of
credit to PhytoGen® cottonseed for the 40 percent increase in cotton
baled in 2014 at the gin’s Bishopville, South Carolina, location.
On Muldrow’s side of the equation, she also saw an
increase in seed. That was good for the company’s
edible oil operation and for her customers.
“Seed now is part of farming,” Muldrow says. “It used to
be just the gin’s business. Now it’s income for farmers.”
Ultimately, Nuti says, variety selection today demands
that buyers look at the whole economic picture.
“What did it take to grow X variety and how much did
that variety return?” Nuti asks. “It is best to sit down
and go through your gin recaps to figure profits. We
have to drill down to the variety level to maximize
profit in today’s market.”
“When a cotton
variety yields
extremely
well and is in
high demand
for its fiber
characteristics,
a grower has a
double bonus.
This describes
PhytoGen brand PHY 444 WRF exactly. It yields
and has exceptional fiber quality.” — Dr. Steve
Brown, PhytoGen cotton development specialist
Join the Best Yielder Club and win!
Share your success growing PhytoGen® cottonseed with your peers through the Best Yielder Club. Your membership
in this club couldn’t be easier, and once registered, we’ll send you the latest Best Yielder Club member apparel. This
is your chance to show and tell us what you love about PhytoGen cottonseed. Upload a photo of your cotton field, and
your name will be entered into the prize drawing twice.*
Upon joining, members receive a hat and Cinch® shirt with PhytoGen logo. Members also are entered for a chance to
win the grand prize and regional prizes.
Regional prizes include 1 of 3 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), and the grand prize is both a UAV (with training) and
a pictorial story of your farming operation captured by a professional photographer.
Joining is easy; visit MyBestYielder.com or Facebook.com/PhytoGenYields and share your success story. Everyone,
whether a new member or a returning member, gets something for becoming a member. Deadline to enter is
March 20, 2016.
*Your photo may be used on future Best Yielder Club promotional pieces.