Johnston, Iowa, USA
July 15, 2025
PhytoGen® cottonseed, the U.S. cottonseed brand of Corteva Agriscience, announces two new varieties for the 2026 season: PhytoGen® brand PHY 357 W3FE and PHY 433 W3FE. These broadly adapted Upland varieties are bred to deliver break-through yields and fiber quality for growers across the Cotton Belt from the Southeast to West Texas.
Joel Faircloth, Ph.D., Corteva Portfolio Leader – Cotton, examines a PhytoGen breeding trial in Georgia. Faircloth says new PhytoGen® brand PHY 357 W3FE and PHY 433 W3FE will be the most broadly adapted varieties available from PhytoGen with next-level yield potential and Upland fiber quality.
“Yield is the first thing growers need, especially in challenging market conditions, and these varieties offer a step-change in yield potential to help U.S. cotton producers achieve more on their farms,” said Joel Faircloth, Ph.D., Corteva Portfolio Leader – Cotton. “These varieties raise the bar on yield potential and offer broad adaptability for more consistent production across varying agronomic conditions.”
The broad adaptation of PHY 357 W3FE and PHY 433 W3FE allows cotton growers to plant these varieties across diverse soil types and irrigation regimes, simplifying variety selection and in-season management. Broad adaptation also increases yield consistency, which helps producers better plan for each season.
As the market leader in Pima varieties, PhytoGen cottonseed is known for its ability to deliver exceptional fiber quality. These varieties leverage this expertise in the Upland market with superior fiber quality characteristics, especially staple length. PHY 433 W3FE has produced staple lengths as high as 40 in pre-commercial trials, meeting the demand for longer staple cotton.
“When we advance new varieties, our first focus is always on yield because that is what growers primarily get paid for,” Faircloth said. “But we also select varieties for superior fiber quality so that growers can get optimal price for their cotton and increase profit potential. Higher fiber quality also provides more opportunities for our American cotton growers to better compete in the world textile market.”
PHY 357 W3FE is a medium-tall, early-mid-maturing variety, and PHY 433 W3FE is a medium-tall, mid-maturing variety. Both offer a full suite of built-in protection against yield-robbing pests, including resistance to root-knot nematodes, reniform nematodes and bacterial blight.
Faircloth said nematode resistance has become an important native trait for cotton varieties due to rising nematode populations on cotton acres. Resistance to root-knot and reniform nematodes provides peace of mind against these microscopic pests, protecting yield potential against increased populations in much of the Cotton Belt.
“Cotton producers suppressed nematodes for years with aldicarb, and we now have rising numbers of nematodes in cotton,” Faircloth said. “With built-in nematode resistance, these varieties give producers season-long protection from nematodes and will help reduce soil populations for future seasons. That’s important whether growers plant cotton again or a rotational crop such as soybeans.”
Early OVT excitement rooted in breeding success
PhytoGen® brand PHY 357 W3FE and PHY 433 W3FE were tested in university Official Variety Trials (OVTs) last season and demonstrated consistent high yields across various regions — winning trials for yield and fiber quality. For example, PHY 357 W3FE won the 2024 Mississippi State University OVTs, outyielding the closest competitor by 54 pounds per acre. In the same trial, PHY 433 W3FE tied for the longest staple length with a 39, or 1.22 inches.1
“These new varieties were the clear leaders in OVTs last year. You aren’t going to win every trial, but they consistently performed at the top,” Faircloth said. “Growers, consultants and state cotton specialists who saw these varieties in last year’s OVTs told us they wanted the varieties commercially available as soon as possible.”
Dan Gorman, Ph.D., Corteva Global Cotton Breeding Lead, said excitement for these varieties began several years ago when they first emerged as standouts in the breeding program. Advanced breeding tools and technologies have enabled PhytoGen to assess more germplasm, identify elite varieties and gain earlier insights on performance.
“In recent years, PhytoGen has leveraged the strengths of the Corteva breeding program to speed up the process of bringing varieties to market while giving us more confidence in the products we advance,” Gorman said. “We start with elite germplasm and then utilize genomic techniques and molecular markers for making selections, so we don’t have to wait for field visuals.”
PhytoGen also employs winter nurseries to evaluate material, bringing more speed and data to the advancement process.
“PHY 357 W3FE and PHY 433 W3FE are the first varieties to fully benefit from these new breeding methodologies,” Gorman said. “They’ve been through widespread testing across the Cotton Belt in third-party trials and on growers’ farms, and we’ve seen impressive yield and fiber quality. The breeding team is excited about what these varieties bring to cotton producers.”
For the 2025 season, growers in the PhytoGen Horizon Network (PHN) planted the varieties in on-farm trials to provide on farm, commercial-scale data and feedback to the PhytoGen team ahead of commercial availability in 2026.
To learn more about these varieties, watch this video or go to PhytoGen.com/varieties. To visit a PHN trial in your area, contact your local PhytoGen Field Agronomist.
12024 Mississippi State University Cotton Official Variety Trials. One-year mean yield performance and fiber characteristics across six testing locations. In the trials, PHY 357 W3FE and PHY 433 W3FE were entered with their experimental numbers, PX1140F331-04W3FE and PX1150F360-04W3FE, respectively. https://www.mafes.msstate.edu/publications/information-bulletins/ib0593.pdf
About PhytoGen
For more than 45 years, PhytoGen® cottonseed, the U.S. cottonseed brand of Corteva, has helped growers thrive with cottonseed varieties that produce maximum yield and industry-leading fiber quality. Growers work smarter with the most advanced trait technologies, such as WideStrike® 3 Insect Protection and the Enlist® cotton trait. Join the discussion with PhytoGen on Facebook, X and YouTube, or become a Best Yielder member.
About Corteva
Corteva, Inc. (NYSE: CTVA) is a global pure-play agriculture company that combines industry-leading innovation, high-touch customer engagement and operational execution to profitably deliver solutions for the world’s most pressing agriculture challenges. Corteva generates advantaged market preference through its unique distribution strategy, together with its balanced and globally diverse mix of seed, crop protection, and digital products and services. With some of the most recognized brands in agriculture and a technology pipeline well positioned to drive growth, the Company is committed to maximizing productivity for farmers, while working with stakeholders throughout the food system as it fulfills its promise to enrich the lives of those who produce and those who consume, ensuring progress for generations to come. More information can be found at www.corteva.com.
Topics
Species
