Mid-South Cotton Variety Performance

University Extension Cotton Specialists in the Mid-South States of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee conduct multiple on-farm cotton variety demonstration trials to evaluate recently released commercial cultivars in a field-scale setting. Producers value and expect up-to-date yield and quality parameter information from Land Grant Universities that build on research station, small plot official variety trials. Market and agronomic forces create the need for multiple demonstration trials, as some areas of the Mid-South are still dominated by glyphosate-tolerant varieties, while other areas are adopting glufosinate-tolerant varieties as weed management strategies shift. Producers are also shifting from module-building harvest operations to cotton-baling technology, creating a shift in how cotton is picked and transported to the gin. Results of the 2011 On-Farm Demonstration Trial Programs will be presented.