Over 90 million acres of US land is covered in corn for a good part of the year, and much of that is located in the Midwest. At any given moment, a portion of those fields may be flattened to the ground by damaging high winds that are an inescapable feature of the landscape. But how do you wind-proof a 12-foot tall corn plant? One solution is to make the corn plant shorter, aka “short corn”, several varieties of which are being tested out across the Midwest.
According to Dan Quinn, Assistant Professor of Agronomy and Extension Corn Specialist at Purdue University, these hybrids are typically 20 to 24 inches shorter than current “full-stature” hybrids. Overall, these hybrids have potential benefits which include increased lodging resistance, increased tolerance to higher plant populations and narrower rows, and easier in-season access with spray equipment for fertilizer and pesticide applications.
Research trials conducted by Purdue University in partnership with Bayer CropScience last year noted the very apparent height difference (67 inches vs. 86 inches) as well as average ear height (22 inches vs 37 inches). Aboveground total biomass, however, was very similar (7300 vs 7200 lbs/ac at R1), likely due to wider stem and leaf diameter of the short-stature hybrids.
Overall, the researchers found that short-stature hybrids maintained very strong yields at both of the Purdue research locations in Indiana and produced the same or slightly lower yields in comparison to full-stature hybrids when grown in the exact same environments. For example, short-stature hybrid yields did exceed 300 bushels per acre within multiple research treatments and maintained average yields ranging from 240 – 260 bushels per acre in NW Indiana and 250 – 300 bushels per acre in central Indiana.
The Purdue researchers also noted that the short-stature hybrids had a higher tolerance to both increased seeding rates and narrow row (20-inch) systems. For example, research in both central and NW Indiana observed continued grain yield increases as seeding rates increased from 34,000 to 50,000 seeds per acre when grown in 20-inch rows, which suggests these hybrids may have the potential to tolerate even higher plant populations when grown in narrow row systems.
Of course, there are also some cons. Purdue researchers say one of the biggest challenges is actually equipment-related due the ear height of short corn plants. Corn ear position on the main stem must maintain specific heights above the soil surface in order to be properly harvested by current combine headers. A previous Purdue study found a fairly strong relationship between ear height and yield once the height dropped below 23 – 24 inches.
Brian Leake, a Bayer spokesman, said the company has been developing short corn for more than 20 years. The company was conducting field trials of its short corn in August 2020 when a “derecho” windstorm devastated crops in Iowa with wind gusts up to 140 miles per hour. Afterward, most of Bayer’s short corn was still standing, completely undamaged.
Bayer has already released a short corn variety in Mexico but is still conducting trials in the US. That includes some 30,000 acres in the Midwest this year. The company plans to start selling the seed to US farmers next year. Corteva is also expected to begin selling a short corn variety to farmers within the next year or so.
Stine Seed is one of the few, if not only, companies in the US currently offering shorter-stature corn varieties, which it says average 7 to 8 feet. The company also notes that its conventional hybrids are still shorter than most of its competitors. Notably, the company says it does not intentionally select short hybrids from its breeding program, they just happen to be the hybrids yielding the most. You can learn more about Stine’s short corn HERE. (Sources: Purdue University, AP, Science.org)
