Austin Warbington of Dooly County, Georgia, planted PhytoGen® brand PHY 475 W3FE in 2024 after learning about the built-in yield protection that helps him overcome nematodes, weeds and seasonal challenges and keep yields high on his farm.
Austin Warbington grows a mix of cotton, peanuts and corn – but he considers himself a cotton grower, just like his father and grandfather. Cotton is a part of who they are, and it’s the lifeblood of their operation: “Cotton is what pays the bills.”
Located in Dooly County, the largest cotton-producing county in Georgia, Warbington said he’s always looking for ways to maximize yield so he can keep doing what he loves in a market environment that’s continually evolving. Each year he explores new varieties and technologies to help him produce higher yields on his 4,300 acres of cotton.
And that’s what led him back to PhytoGen® cottonseed. He had great experiences with PhytoGen® brand varieties in the past but recently planted dicamba-tolerant varieties to evaluate their performance on his farm. Even then, Warbington was looking for an opportunity to get back to PhytoGen brand varieties.
“The very best yield we ever grew was a PhytoGen variety.” Warbington said.
In 2024, Warbington returned to PhytoGen after hearing about new varieties with high-yield potential, loaded with traits that address common production challenges such as nematodes and weeds. He planted PhytoGen® brand PHY 475 W3FE and said it was “one of our best yielders overall and our best yielder on dryland.”
PHY 475 W3FE and other PhytoGen brand varieties are tailor-made for the growing conditions in Dooly County and across the lower Southeast – bred with excellent vigor, indeterminate toughness and nematode resistance. Warbington said early season vigor is critical in his area to set the stage for the rest of the season.
“If you get a rain and the ground gets hard, those bigger seeds from PhytoGen will come on up,” Warbington said. “Planting is the foundation. You need to start off good. If you start off bad, it’s like losing your first football game. That’s not how you want to start the season.”
Once the cotton is out of the ground, Warbington focuses on one driving goal: Produce as much yield as possible. That’s a challenge in his sandy soils, especially with yield-robbing root-knot nematodes that feed on cotton roots and limit water uptake. Newer PhytoGen varieties appeal to Warbington because they provide nematode resistance that doesn’t sacrifice high-yield potential.
“I like the nematode package because we have a lot of nematode problems, so that’s going to be a big help for us,” Warbington said. “We need varieties that can yield well and have nematode resistance, and PHY 475 W3FE and PHY 411 W3FE have that.”
Warbington also believes the Enlist® weed control system gives him better options to control weeds, such as a tank mix of Enlist One® herbicide and glufosinate. One of the places he planted PHY 475 W3FE was on a new farm with heavy weed populations, and the tank mix exceeded his expectations.
“We thought the Enlist system worked really well,” Warbington said. “We ran it with a tank mix of Enlist One and glufosinate, and it cleaned up the fields. That is the best combination we’ve used in terms of a one-shot kill.”
After last season, Warbington is looking forward to planting PhytoGen varieties again, applying what he’s learned to plant the right varieties on the right fields for optimal yield. And he won’t be the only one excited about PhytoGen. He believes there’s increasing interest in PhytoGen varieties, as growers learn about the genetic potential and yield protection, built into the seed.
“I think PhytoGen will have a lot stronger market presence, because it is really coming back with these newer varieties,” Warbington said. “They have varieties that bring a lot of benefits and are really suited for this area.”
To learn more about PhytoGen cottonseed, go to www.PhytoGen.com.
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Find information on yield and more in the PhytoGen Cottonseed Agronomy Library.