One of our recently retired cotton reps, Jerry Spivey, at Mickey Diamond’s field.

A cold February has offered plenty of time to think about which crops to grow in the coming season. If cotton is one of the crops you are considering, the variety trial results from the 2020 season can help you make a more informed decision.

In 2020, two different variety trials were planted in Santa Rosa County. An on-farm trial was planted in one of Mr. Mickey Diamond’s fields on May 26th and plots were planted at the West Florida Research and Education Center on June 24th. Both fields endured high winds from tropical storms and were picked in December. The two trials produced very different yields.

Mickey Diamond’s results, compiled in the information below, represent information generated by Drew Schrimsher with Greenpoint Ag. This is the second year that PHY 400 won Mickey’s trial, but many other varieties had excellent yields, turnout, and quality. Special thanks to Drew and Greenpoint Ag for the resources put into this analysis of the trial.

Results from Mickey’s 2020 cotton variety trial

For those interested in more detail about each of the varieties at Mickey’s, watch the following video from the 2020 Cotton Variety Trial at Diamond’s Farms.

The very late planted cotton varieties at WFREC were impacted more severly by Hurrican Sally, and did not fare nearly as well as those at Mr. Diamond’s farm.

 

Results of the 2020 WFREC cotton variety trial

The variety trials will continue in 2021, with many companies sending in their seed for comparison in Santa Rosa county. Information from other states might also be useful. For those interested, use the following links to summary reports.  You may want to focus on the tests in the southern locations of these reports, such as the Wiregrass and Fairhope results from Alabama, and the Bainbridge and Tifton results in Georgia.

Auburn 2020 Performance of Cotton Varieties in Alabama

UGA 2020 Yield Summary of Irrigated & Dryland  Cotton Varieties