Current Edition
Stay tuned to corn; it keeps getting better and better
Originally published in the November 27, 2009, print edition.
The Land — Representatives from more than 40 different seed firms tromped some wet corn research plots in early October to see potential new hybrids of Thurston Genetics and several other seed stock providers.
“And what our guests were seeing was what we now label as ‘complete, fully stacked’ new hybrids selected for specific genetic traits but also the multiple package of traits, with special emphasis on what we call output traits, or more precisely ‘value-enhanced grains’,” said Bob Thurston, CEO, Thurston Genetics, a genetic seed stock firm now owned by BASF Plant Science, at the annual Thurston Genetics Show Plot Field Day near Olivia.
Tremendous emphasis has been put on input traits such as specific insect- and herbicide-resistance traits. Thurston said his firm is also concentrating increasing feed value of corn, be it as improved hybrids for the livestock industry, or nutritionally superior corns that would enhance the nutritive value of food products.
“Increases in protein, oil and selected amino acids are major objectives of our research work. As world populations continue to increase more and more a world protein shortage is a growing concern. Protein-rich corn hybrids could become huge players in correcting this imbalance,” Thurston said.
Though commercial corn markets are not yet responding to “higher nutritional value” products, he said this somewhat is a condition of fluctuations in commodity markets. When corn prices are high, so-called value-added corn doesn’t get much attention. That tends to change however when markets slump.
“That extra value-added input doesn’t seem quite as significant when corn is $6 a bushel versus when corn is $3 a bushel. But at the animal’s mouth we certainly see the value of nutrient-rich corn. It’s basically a matter of education and getting the right hybrids grown where they are yield neutral but carry the additional nutrition.”
Also though not specifically focused on new hybrids for the ethanol industry, Thurston said he sees a big future in what he termed “energy values” of hybrids designated for biofuels.
Though a Minnesota-based firm, Thurston Genetics markets seed stock into 22 states but is recognized as a premier seed stock provider for northern Corn Belt states, plus the ever-increasing corn acres in Canadian provinces.
“We’ve provided 78- to 80-day hybrids which fit into these shorter season regions but also respond well agronomically to the climates of these areas. North Dakota for example, barely recognized for corn production 10 years ago, is now a significant corn producer for the livestock industry as well as the biofuels industry.”
New trait technology features
Thurston sees the drought-tolerant trait becoming a big item in the more-arid western Corn Belt within the next couple of years.
“Plant breeding science has become so sophisticated that it almost boils down to your imagination as to what we can do with plant genetics in the next decade. Biotechnology traits have gotten tremendous publicity for the yield protection they bring to corn producers.”
But thanks to DNA marker technology and molecular genetics, the real excitement is the rapid increase in productivity genetics.
“That 300-bushel average yield we started talking about two years ago is definitely a reality, by 2030, if not sooner,” Thurston said. And that 13 billion bushel record-breaking 2009 U.S. corn crop is the real thing, if weather permits a complete harvest.
“I’ve never seen so much corn still in the field this late in the season,” he said at his early October field day.
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