- Advances in Agriculture
30 Years of Bollgard® Technology
How a breakthrough trait helped cotton thrive during a pest crisis – and continues to shape what comes next.
In the mid-1990s, cotton growers across the United States were facing a crisis that threatened more than a single crop year. Tobacco budworms, pink bollworms and other lepidopteran pests were becoming increasingly difficult – and expensive – to control as once-reliable insecticides lost effectiveness and resistance spread.
“Before Bollgard®, it was just spray, spray, spray,” recalled Mississippi cotton farmer Coley Bailey Jr. In 1995, he remembers tobacco budworms becoming nearly impossible to control, forcing some growers to abandon acres despite repeated treatments. “There’s a lot of really, really good farmers who 1995 took out, through no fault of their own,” Bailey said.
Rogers Leonard, former LSU Ag Center VP of Agriculture and longtime research and extension entomologist, remembers it as a borderline crisis across the southern United States. Farmers knew the pest and were willing to act, he said, but “the available crop protection products were only giving partial control.” In Arizona, growers faced a similar struggle with pink bollworm. “… you never felt like you could get ahead of them,” said fourth-generation farmer Cory Weddle.
For Keylon Gholston, retired Deltapine® Cotton Product Manager who still farms cotton and consults in Baldwyn, Mississippi, the crisis raised questions about the future of U.S. cotton itself. “It made me really concerned about the longevity of the U.S. cotton industry because we couldn't control our biggest pest at that time,” he said. “It really was to a point where people were saying, ‘Okay, what are we going to do? I can't continue to do what I've been doing financially.’”
"We are excited to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Bollgard launching in cotton. This was a true milestone that not only revolutionized how cotton was grown but also the industry as a whole. We are proud of Bayer’s legacy of innovation in cotton and we aren’t slowing down anytime soon with 3 new traits expected to launch in the next 5 years."
A Revolutionary Idea
The answer arrived in a form many growers and researchers had never imagined: protection built into the cotton plant itself. “Never had there been a pesticide in the plant before,” said Shea Murdock, Bayer Cotton Business Lead. “It changed the marketplace forever.”
For Jay Mahaffey, Bayer Crop Science Scott Learning Center Manager, the promise first sounded almost unbelievable. In 1993, while he was a graduate student at North Carolina State University, his professor walked in with a small bag of cotton seed and a claim that sounded almost futuristic: the seed could grow into plants that killed lepidopteran larvae. “To me, that was like getting on the Starship Enterprise,” Mahaffey said. “I didn’t know such a thing was possible.”
By 1995, Experimental Use Permit (EUP) plantings were underway across cotton-growing states, including farm-managed blocks that allowed growers to see the technology in real conditions. A major tobacco budworm outbreak that season intensified interest, and a September field day at the Scott Learning Center drew thousands of farmers, consultants, media and investors eager to see Bollgard® cotton in the field.
Bollgard® received approval later that fall and was introduced in 1996 as the first Bt trait in cotton. It represented more than a new product. For many in the industry, it was the first proof that agricultural biotechnology could solve a real-world farming challenge.
After warning Alabama growers ahead of the 1996 season, “Don’t plant cotton again, unless you’re going to plant Bollgard®,” retired Extension Entomologist Ron Smith watched the technology help change the outlook almost overnight. “We actually had farmers, in the very first year of Bollgard® in 1996, who produced over 2 bales per acre and never made a single foliar insecticide spray to their cotton,” he said. “We went from doom and gloom to over 2 bales per acre.”
Changing the Rhythm of Cotton
Bollgard® changed more than insect-control programs. It changed the rhythm of cotton production. With a traditional spray application, protection begins the day it is applied and then gradually declines. Bollgard® offered something different: “It’s out there all season long – 24 hours a day, seven days a week – doing what it was supposed to do,” Gholston said.
The value was personal, too. Bailey said Bollgard® “pretty much means everything” because it helped keep his family in the cotton business. Dave Rhylander, retired Monsanto Cotton Marketing Lead, said market research captured another kind of value: time. “Instead of spending all their time in the field, growers told me, ‘I got to go watch my kid play baseball today.’”
In Arizona, Bollgard® also helped change pest management philosophy. Peter Ellsworth, University of Arizona Extension Entomologist, said some growers had sprayed as many as 25 times in 1995 without winning the war against pink bollworm and whiteflies. After Bollgard®, his role shifted from teaching growers where, when and what to spray to helping them determine when a spray was – and wasn’t – needed, opening the door to a more balanced integrated pest management (IPM) system to help protect beneficial insects.
Building on the Foundation
Once growers saw Bollgard® work, the story quickly expanded beyond worm control. Eric Best, Deltapine Product Manager, first worked with Bollgard® as a graduate student in Texas and has seen evolution of trait technologies advancing how insects and weeds are controlled in cotton. “It’s amazing to think about how quickly some of the traits came on in the first four or five years,” Best said.
The economic impact went beyond fewer sprays and lower insect-control costs. By helping protect yield potential, Bollgard® gave growers something just as important: more consistent, stable production in the face of unpredictable pest pressure. “This is not only an increase in yield, but the stability of yields,” Murdock said, noting that average cotton yields in states such as Mississippi and Georgia have increased more than 30 percent since 1995.1
Each new generation has had to keep evolving. Ashley Stewart, who works in resistance management at Bayer, said Bollgard® technologies have added modes of action to help maintain efficacy, broaden pest control and extend durability for growers. “It’s important that our traits keep evolving because insects can and will evolve,” Stewart said. That same progression continues with tools such as ThryvOn® Technology, which provides built-in protection for early-season pests such as thrips before Bollgard®’s lepidopteran protection becomes the primary focus later in the season.
The next chapter of cotton innovation also depends on understanding how new technologies perform on real farms. Through Bayer’s New Product Evaluator (NPE) program, about 200 growers across the Cotton Belt plant experimental varieties on enough acres to manage them under real-world conditions.
“We developed this NPE program so a grower can manage an experimental variety the way he sees fit – the way the plant is telling him to,” Gholston said. Those insights help inform breeding, technology development and future product decisions.
Looking Ahead
Tim Dabbert, Bayer’s Cotton Technical Product and Strategy Lead, said Bollgard® 4* represents the next step in a 30-year progression from the original Bollgard® to Bollgard II® and Bollgard® 3. Planned for launch by 2029, Bollgard® 4 is expected to bring new modes of action for improved lepidopteran control, stronger resistance durability and more consistent long-term performance for growers. Bayer also expects to launch its next-generation herbicide tolerance trait in the same timeframe – a combination Dabbert said would mark an industry first in cotton.
For Bayer, that innovation pipeline is not simply about the next trait. It is about continuing to invest in technologies that can help growers manage risk, protect yield and keep cotton viable for the next generation. “Cotton is a core crop for us. It’s one we believe in, not only for the short term, but for the long term,” Murdock said. “We’re investing today in products that may not reach the marketplace for five, ten, or even 15 years. That’s our commitment to cotton.”
“We have to walk the fields with our growers and hear what their challenges are today, and what they think their challenges will be tomorrow,” Murdock continued. “That helps us decide where to invest our R&D dollars and make sure we’re focusing on real-world problems that solve growers’ challenges.”
“To launch Bollgard® 4 and next-generation herbicide tolerance in the same year – that is something no company has done before in cotton,” Murdock said. “Thirty years later, we’re still investing in technologies that increase yield potential, more stable yields and more consistent insect control to growers – and we still haven’t changed our mindset of solving growers’ challenges.”
Bollgard®’s legacy is still unfolding in growers’ fields. What first helped cotton thrive during a pest crisis became a platform for continuous innovation. The model that made Bollgard® successful – science developed with growers, strengthened through stewardship and pushed forward by new technology – continues to drive what comes next.
1 USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Quick Stats Database, Upland Cotton Yield (lb/harvested acre), Mississippi and Georgia, 1996-2025.
ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS.
This material may contain “forward-looking statements” based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer’s public reports which are available on the Bayer website at http://www.bayer.com/. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.
*This product is not currently available for commercial sale or commercial planting. Commercialization is dependent on multiple factors, including successful conclusion of the regulatory process. The information presented herein is provided for educational purposes only, and is not and shall not be construed as an offer to sell.
Bayer is a member of Excellence Through Stewardship® (ETS). Bayer's biotechnology-derived products are commercialized in accordance with ETS Product Launch Stewardship Guidance, and in compliance with Bayer’s Policy for Commercialization of Biotechnology-Derived Plant Products in Commodity Crops. Where applicable, commercialized products have been approved for import into key export markets with functioning regulatory systems. Any crop or material produced from commercialized products can only be exported to, or used, processed or sold in countries where all applicable regulatory approvals have been granted. It is a violation of national and international law to move material containing biotech traits across boundaries into nations where import is not permitted. Growers should talk to their grain handler or product purchaser to confirm their buying position for commercialized products. Excellence Through Stewardship® is a registered trademark of Excellence Through Stewardship.
It is a violation of federal and state law to use any pesticide product other than in accordance with its labeling. NOT ALL formulations of dicamba, glyphosate or glufosinate are approved for in-crop use with products with XtendFlex® Technology. ONLY USE FORMULATIONS THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY LABELED FOR SUCH USES AND APPROVED FOR SUCH USE IN THE STATE OF APPLICATION. Contact the U.S. EPA and your state pesticide regulatory agency with any questions about the approval status of herbicide products for in-crop use.
See the IRM/Grower Guide for additional information. Always read and follow IRM requirements.
B.t. products may not yet be registered in all states. Contact the U.S. EPA and your state pesticide regulatory agency with any questions about the approval status of herbicide products for in-crop use.
Roundup Ready® 2 Technology contains genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate. Products with XtendFlex® Technology contains genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate, glufosinate and dicamba. Plants that are not tolerant to glyphosate may be damaged or killed if exposed to those herbicides. Plants that are not tolerant to glyphosate, dicamba, and/or glufosinate may be damaged or killed if exposed to those herbicides. Contact your seed brand dealer or refer to the Bayer Technology Use Guide for recommended weed control programs.
Insect control technology provided by Vip3A is utilized under license from Syngenta Crop Protection AG. Bayer, Bayer Cross, Bollgard®, Deltapine®, Roundup Ready®, ThryvOn® and ThryvOn® Technology are registered trademarks of Bayer Group. ©2026 Bayer Group. All rights reserved.