Bayer CropScience is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the FiberMax One Ton Club and honored 183 growers for hitting the 2,000-pound-per-acre yield during 2014.
During its first decade, the FiberMax One Ton Club has recognized 806 cotton growers who produced 2,000 pounds or more of lint cotton per acre on at least 20 acres using FiberMax cotton seed. In 2014, a grower from North Carolina became the first One Ton Club member from east of Texas. Growers have used 37 different FiberMax varieties to produce One Ton Club yields.
Bayer CropScience brought FiberMax cotton seed to the West Texas market in 1998 and revolutionized cotton production on the High Plains. The region once known for producing lower yields and quality began producing some of the highest yields and best quality in the United States.
Lee Rivenbark, head of Seeds North America for Bayer CropScience, remembers those early days when growers first started achieving yields that were previously unknown in West Texas.
“By elevating the use of water management, equipment and technology, these innovative growers showed they could successfully manage for high yields and high quality with FiberMax cotton,” Rivenbark said. “We began to hear stories about 2,000-pound cotton yields, and we needed to come up with a way to recognize producers who grew four-bale cotton. Then a grower told us, ‘It’s not just four-bale cotton. It’s a ton of cotton.’”
Willem and Ruth Hartman, first-year One Ton Club members from Pampa, Texas, won a Ford F-350 Super Duty King Ranch truck in a sweepstakes for all One Ton Club members.
Several other awards were handed out during the One Ton Club banquet in Lubbock, Texas:
Highest Yield and Highest Gross Value Per Acre:
Larry Hancock, with 3,260 pounds and $1,854.94 per acre with FM 2334GLT
Highest Loan Value:
Mark Pratt, 58.17 cents with FM 2322GL and FM 1830GLT
Most One Ton Club Acres:
Chris Matschek and Doyle Schaefer, 425 acres with FM 1944GLB2 and FM 2484B2F
Most Varieties Achieving One Ton Club Yields
Eleven farming operations made One Ton Club yields last season with two varieties.