The Right Choice in A Cotton-Peanut Rotation
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Cotton-and-peanut producers continually look for new ways to maximize efficiencies while growing two high-value crops that compete for time and resources. As growers finalize planting decisions for 2025, many have turned to PhytoGen® brand varieties because of their designed fit in a Southeast cotton-peanut operation.
Judson Herrington says PhytoGen® W3FE varieties have helped him gain time back, save input costs and keep yield potential high alongside his peanut acres.
Judson Herrington farms 4,000 acres of cotton and peanuts across Bleckley, Laurens and Twiggs counties in Georgia. He started planting newer PhytoGen® W3FE varieties three years ago to gain efficiencies when time matters most — during planting, harvest and herbicide application.
Herrington said the early season vigor with PhytoGen varieties is unmatched and allows him to plant cotton early — in late April — so that he can harvest those varieties in September before peanut harvest. Plus, the reliable vigor allows him to save on input costs with lower seeding rates while still getting an excellent stand.
He has substantially reduced his seeding rates in recent years, from 38,000 seed/A to 27,000 seed/A.
“That’s saving 11,000 seed per acre over 2,000 acres — that’s a lot of money,” Herrington said. “Based on what we’ve learned last season, I will probably plant at an even lower rate of 25,000 seed/A with my PhytoGen varieties next season. You can plant lower populations with PhytoGen and still see the same yield as competitive varieties.”
Because PhytoGen W3FE varieties are tolerant to Enlist® herbicides with 2,4-D choline, Herrington uses the same sprayer across PhytoGen W3FE varieties and peanuts. He covers more acres with a sprayer, allowing him to make applications at the optimal time and better control weeds.
“When I can use that sprayer across cotton and peanuts, it helps us be more timely,” Herrington said. “We’re able to catch weeds when they are between 3 and 6 inches and get our PGR and insecticides applied more efficiently. Timeliness with those things helps us on yield.”
Herrington said newer PhytoGen varieties such as PhytoGen® brand PHY 475 W3FE and PHY 411 W3FE have yield potential equal to competitive varieties, so he gets the added compatibility with his peanut crop while keeping cotton yields high. He typically aims for 1,500 to 1,600 pounds/A on his irrigated cotton ground.
“I especially like PHY 475 W3FE for Georgia. It fits on a lot of different soil types, and it will be our No. 1 PhytoGen variety next year,” Herrington said.
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AGRONOMY
Find information on yield and more in the PhytoGen Cottonseed Agronomy Library.