San Antonio, Texas
January 5, 2009
Monsanto is reporting
excellent performance in 2008 from its stacked-trait cotton,
Bollgard II® with Roundup Ready® Flex, according to company
sources and farmer feedback.
The stacked-trait cotton was planted on approximately 5 million
acres, or more than 54 percent, of the 9.2 million acres of
cotton planted in the United States in 2008. Monsanto expects
2009 plantings of Bollgard II with Roundup Ready Flex cotton to
be approximately 5.6 million acres, or 65 percent of the 8.6
million cotton acres forecast for planting.
“Despite the fact that total U.S. cotton acres have been
decreasing in recent years, adoption of Bollgard II with Roundup
Ready Flex cotton has been steadily growing, which is an
indication of the value that cotton farmers place on this
technology,” said Paul Callaghan, Monsanto Cotton Traits
Marketing Manager.
“Growers are telling us that they really appreciate the
simplicity and the flexibility of the Roundup Ready Flex
system,” Callaghan says. “The technology is a real time saver
for them, and they are able to use that saved time to better
manage their farming operations and spend more time enjoying
their families and recreation.”
Roundup Ready Flex cotton has taken the pressure away for
farmers to have to make their over-the-top applications of
Roundup® agricultural herbicides before the fifth-leaf stage of
cotton – the restriction with the original Roundup Ready cotton
introduced in 1997. Over-the-top herbicide applications save
considerable time versus the use of much slower hooded sprayers.
“Cotton growers can now make their over-the-top herbicide
applications at their convenience, up almost until harvest, and
they can wait until weed stages, weather and their time
availability are just right for them to make those herbicide
applications,” Callaghan adds. “Farmers can also reduce their
trips across the field, another time savings, by tank mixing
crop production products, such as plant growth regulators, with
Roundup agricultural herbicides.”
Bollgard II stood up to some pretty heavy worm pressure across
the Cotton Belt in 2008, especially in parts of southern
Arkansas and in the southern part of South Carolina. The
culprits were tobacco budworms, cotton bollworms and fall
armyworms, depending on the area.
“We got a really good chance to see just how well Bollgard II
performs under extremely heavy worm pressure in these areas,”
says Dr. Walt Mullins, Monsanto Cotton Traits Technical Manager.
“The Bollgard II technology clearly showed superior worm control
compared with other types of Bt cotton, including the original
Bollgard®.”
According to Mullins, worm pressure ranged from light to
moderate in Texas, with bollworm, fall and beet armyworm hot
spots, especially in south Texas. Worm pressure in the lower
Mississippi Delta was also light to moderate, which is unusual.
Exceptions were heavy bollworm pressure in parts of Mississippi
and south Arkansas, and fall armyworm pressure later in the
season in south Arkansas.
Worm pressure in Virginia and North Carolina was atypically
light in 2008. South Carolina pressure was light in the northern
part of the state and very heavy in the southern part of South
Carolina, especially below the lakes. Pressure in Georgia was
light to heavy depending on the area, and it was light to
moderate in Alabama and Florida.
“One interesting thing we are seeing is a resurgence of tobacco
budworm in 2008,” Mullins observes. “We saw tobacco budworm in
large numbers both in the northern Mississippi Delta and in
parts of the Southeast. There was a lot of Tracer® insecticide
applied to non-Bt cotton to control this pest.”
Mullins also notes that Bollgard II, for the most part, did not
have to be sprayed with insecticide for worm control across the
Cotton Belt in 2008.
Besides excellent worm control, another factor driving the
adoption of Bollgard II is the technology’s “natural refuge”
option. In most areas of the Cotton Belt, growers who plant
Bollgard II can rely on natural host plants and other crops to
provide an Insect Resistance Management (IRM) refuge, instead of
having to plant a structured non-Bt cotton refuge as was
necessary with the original Bollgard cotton.
“The natural refuge option for Bollgard II allows growers to
save considerable time at planting by not having to plant a
structured IRM (non-Bt cotton) refuge,” Mullins says. “It also
means that growers can plant Bollgard II on all their cotton
acres and realize the yield potential benefits across their
entire cotton acreage.”
For more information about Bollgard II and Roundup Ready Flex
cotton, please visit
www.stackedcotton.com
Monsanto Company is a leading provider of technology-based
solutions and agricultural products that improve farm
productivity and food quality. Monsanto remains focused on
enabling both small-holder and large-scale farmers to produce
more from their land while conserving more of our world’s
natural resources such as water and energy. To learn more about
our business and our commitments, please visit
http://www.monsanto.com.
Monsanto Company is a member of BIO’s Excellence Through
Stewardship(SM) (ETS) Initiative. This product has been
commercialized in compliance with the ETS and Monsanto Product
Launch Stewardship policies, after meeting applicable regulatory
requirements in key export markets with functioning regulatory
systems. Any crop or material produced from this product can
only be exported to, or used, processed or sold in countries
where all necessary regulatory approvals have been granted. It
is a violation of national and international law to move
material containing biotech traits across boundaries into
nations where import is not permitted. Monsanto encourages
growers to talk to their grain handler to confirm their buying
position for this product. Excellence Through Stewardship(SM) is
a service mark of Biotechnology Industry Organization.
Cottonseed containing Monsanto traits may not be exported for
the purpose of planting without a license from Monsanto.
Growers may utilize the natural refuge option for varieties
containing the Bollgard II® trait in the following states: AL,
AR,FL, GA, KS, KY, LA, MD,MS, MO, NC, OK, SC, TN, VA, and most
of Texas (excluding the Texas counties of Brewster, Crane,
Crockett, Culberson, El Paso, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Loving,
Pecos, Presidio, Reeves, Terrell, Val Verde, Ward and Winkler).
The natural refuge option does not apply to Bollgard II cotton
grown in areas where pink bollworm is a pest, including CA, AZ,
NM, and the above listed Texas counties. It also remains the
case that Bollgard® and Bollgard II cotton cannot be planted
south of Highway 60 in Florida, and that Bollgard cotton cannot
be planted in certain other counties in the Texas panhandle.
Refer to the Technology Use Guide and IRM Guide for additional
information regarding Bollgard II, Bollgard, natural refuge and
EPA-mandated geographical restrictions on the planting of Bt
cotton. ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS.
Roundup Ready® crops contain genes that confer tolerance to
glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup® agricultural
herbicides. Roundup® agricultural herbicides will kill crops
that are not tolerant to glyphosate. Bollgard II®, Roundup®, and
Roundup Ready® are registered trademarks of Monsanto Technology
LLC. ©2009 Monsanto Company. |
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