How do some of you feel about having to move to BGII and RR Flex?

I don't know about the rest of the cotton belt, but here in south Georgia, we are uncomfortable with seeing the current registration for Bollgard (first generation) to expire after 2009 - that is only two years away!

In 2003, Georgia farmers welcomed the first widespread availability of DPL555BG/RR, planted many, many acres of it, and harvested a record crop, then another strong crop in 2005. In the heat and dry weather of 2006, we saw it rebound strongly with late season rains and produce some amazingly strong yields.

Here in 2007, again, hot dry weather predominates. Again, DP555 is standing up to the heat and moisture stress very well. Yes, there are other good varieities, and some promising ones in BGII, Widestrike, Liberty Link, and RR Flex technologies, but we have yet to see anything show the promise and consistency of 555. There are some pretty impressive Widestrike varieties in the Dow lineup, but while competitive, they are not quite "there".

In 1998, we began planting a decent number of acres of stacked BG/RR lines, having planted our first BG in '96 and first RR in '97. Yes, the near necessity of the budworm control of BG removed our harshest insect pest from the picture. The ability to farm with RR and larger equipment gave us the chance to farm more acres "faster and cheaper", helping to keep us competitive. However, as we took advantage of those new transgenic technologies, it seems we saw some regression in some other desirable characteristics of their parent varieties, namely the ability to withstand stress that we see in our sandy soils with limited rainfall and high temperatures.

What decision makers do we influence, both regulatory level and industry level, to keep Bollgard, making 555 and other desired varieties available? Is it a decision being driven by regulatory or corporate concerns? Or a combination? In 1998, we had the option of planting our "old favorites" when the new technologies came out, but 2010, it appears we may legally and literally forced to adapting BG/RRF.