Supplies for the nation’s top-two cotton varieties will be good, according to Delta and Pine Land Company (D&PL), the developer and marketer of DP 555 BG/RR and DP 444 BG/RR.

“D&PL has seed production spread across several regions to hedge against a possible shortage from one area,” says Randy Dismuke, senior vice president for the U.S. at D&PL. “Although there was some seed production lost in the midsouth due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, D&PL has enough production spread across the Belt to enable us to have good supplies of key varieties in 2006.”

According to the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service’s 2005 Planted Acreage Report, the top-two planted cotton varieties in the United States were DP 555 BG/RR and DP 444 BG/RR, two products from D&PL that have increased the industry’s expectations about yield potential and fiber quality potential in stackedgene cottons. D&PL expects to have enough seed to supply producers’ demands for both varieties in 2006, Dismuke says.

Released in 2002, DP 555 BG/RR immediately earned a reputation for delivering high yields across a wide array of soil types and growing conditions. The mid- to fullmaturity variety fueled many individual farm yield records during the 2004 season, especially in the midsouth and southeastern United States. DP 555 BG/RR was
planted on almost 77 percent of the cotton acres in Georgia in 2005, 62 percent of the Louisiana acres and 31 percent of the Mississippi acres. D&PL officials expect the variety to make significant gains in Mississippi in 2006 because of the yield performances in the 2005 production year.

“Despite heat and other stresses to cotton in the Mississippi Delta in 2005, DP 555 BG/RR turned in good yield results when compared to other popular stacked-gene varieties, many of which suffered fruit shed and yield reductions due to stress,” says Ken Lege, D&PL Regional Technical Services Director.

DP 444 BG/RR is an early-season variety launched by D&PL in 2003 that quickly climbed to the number-two position on planted acres because of its yield and fiber quality performances in the northern regions of the midsouth and southeastern United States, and in western, southern and central Texas.

Delivering desired micronaire, even in high-mic environments and conditions, has been a strong point for DP 444 BG/RR.

Supplies of D&PL Roundup Ready varieties will also be enough to fill 2006 producer demands, says Dismuke. D&PL Roundup Ready varieties, such as DP 432 RR and DP 434 RR, have shown outstanding yield and fiber quality potential across a wide array of soil types and growing regions of the United States. Both are excellent choices for refuge acres.

D&PL cotton seed is packaged in standard bags containing a minimum of 250,000 seeds, and 8-million-seed Boll Box bulk delivery systems. Due to expected increased demand D&PL has added to its inventory of Boll Boxes for 2006 and beyond. 

Delta and Pine Land Company is a commercial breeder, producer and marketer of cotton planting seed, as well as soybean seed, in the Cotton Belt. For almost 90 years, the company has used its extensive plant breeding programs, drawing from a diverse germplasm base, to develop improved cotton varieties. Delta and Pine Land
Company (NYSE: DLP), headquartered in Scott, Mississippi, has offices in eight states and facilities in several foreign countries.

Bollgard, Bollgard II and Roundup Ready are registered trademarks used under a license from Monsanto Technology LLC. D&PL is a registered trademark and “Yield. Fiber. More.” and Boll Box are trademarks of Delta and Pine Land Company.