In a move that will further strengthen the company's future in the Texas stripper cotton market, Stoneville Texas, Incorporated has purchased the cotton breeding program of Brownfield Seed and Delinting Company. As a result of the deal, Texas growers should begin to see new stripper varieties containing Brownfield germplasm from Stoneville within five to seven years.

With the purchase of Holland Cottonseed in 1997, Memphis-based Stoneville Pedigreed Seed Company formed its Stoneville Texas subsidiary and announced its intention to become a key player in the Southwest stripper cotton seed market, with a particular emphasis on the Texas High Plains. The Brownfield germplasm collection, when coupled with existing Stoneville and Holland germplasm, significantly advances that intention as it contains what Stoneville Vice President for Research and Development Don Panter calls "the potential for thousands of new lines developed in and for the Texas High Plains. These new lines from the Brownfield germplasm pool will provide the building blocks for new seed varieties from Stoneville Texas."

Brownfield Seed and Delinting Company President Bob Dumas commented, "I am happy to have reached this agreement with Stoneville and to know that the efforts of the Brownfield breeding program will somehow continue to benefit cotton growers in this area."

"The new varieties will be specifically tailored to meet the needs of High Plains growers, Panter adds, "with the storm resistance, drought tolerance and quality characteristics important to the region's unique conditions." And Panter hints that the western expansion may not yet be complete. "We will continue to look at strategic acquisitions for the West Texas market," he says.