Will the future belong to short stature corn?

Professionals with AgReliant Genetics, the parent company for AgriGold and LG Seeds, say the answer to that question may be only a few years away as research and testing ramp up on development of native trait hybrids that could confirm the viability of shorter corn with ears located closer to the ground.

“Our goal is to continue to evaluate it,” said Mike Kavanaugh, product development director for AgReliant Genetics. “We’re doing a lot of testing (with) several thousand acres of test plots.” 

Kavanaugh and other experts presented multiple sessions to nearly 200 participants during the company’s innovation days in Ames. On the agenda were...