Scientists are developing climate-resistant ‘short corn’ with higher yields

But soon, that towering corn may become a miniature of its former self, replaced by stalks only half the height of the green giants that dominated the fields for so long.

“As you drive through the Midwest, maybe in the next seven, eight, 10 years, you’re going to see a lot of this out there,” said Cameron Sorgenfrey, an eastern Iowa farmer who grows the newly developed short corn. several years, sometimes causing puzzled looks from neighboring farmers. “I think this is going to change agriculture in the Midwest.”

Short corn developed by Bayer Crop Science is being tested on about 30,000 acres (12,141 hectares) in the Midwest, with the promise of giving farmers a variety that can withstand severe storms that could become more frequent due to climate change. The corn’s smaller stature and sturdier base allow it to withstand winds of up to 50 mph—researchers hover over fields in a helicopter to see how the plants behave in the wind.

Smaller plants also allow farmers to plant at a higher density so they can grow more corn on the same amount of land, increasing their profits. This is especially helpful as farmers have endured several years of low prices, which are expected to continue.

Smaller stems could also lead to less water use at a time of increasing concern about drought.
American farmers grow corn on about 90 million acres (36 million hectares) each year, making it typically the nation’s largest crop, so it’s hard to overstate the importance of a potential large-scale shift to corn. shorter stature, said Dior Kelley, an assistant professor at Iowa State University who is researching different ways to grow shorter corn. Last year, American farmers grew more than 400 tons (363 metric tons) of corn, most of which was used for animal feed, ethanol fuel additive or exported to other countries.

“It’s huge. It’s a big, fundamental change,” Kelley said.

Researchers have long focused on developing plants that could grow the most corn, but recently there has been an equal emphasis on other traits, such as making the plant more drought tolerant or able to withstand high temperatures. While there have already been efforts to grow shorter corn, demand for innovations from private companies like Bayer and academic scientists has increased after an intense storm — called a derecho — swept through the Midwest in August 2020.

The storm killed four people and caused $11 billion in damage, with the most destruction in a wide swath of eastern Iowa, where winds topped 100 mph. In cities like Cedar Rapids, the wind toppled thousands of trees, but the damage to a corn crop just weeks after harvest was particularly striking.

“It looked like someone came with a machete and cut all our corn off,” Kelley said.
Or as Sorgenfrey, the Iowa farmer who endured the derecho, put it, “Most of my corn looked like it had been steamrolled.”

While Kelley is excited about the potential of short corn, she said farmers need to be aware that cobs that grow closer to the ground may be more vulnerable to disease or mold. The short plants could also be susceptible to a problem called lodging, when the corn bows after something like a heavy rain and then grows along the soil, Kelley said.

Brian Leake, a Bayer spokesman, said the company has been developing short corn for more than 20 years. Other companies, such as Stine Seed and Corteva, also have been working for a decade or more to offer short corn varieties.

While the big goal was to develop corn that can withstand high winds, the researchers also note that a shorter stalk makes it easier for farmers to access fields with equipment for tasks like spreading fungicide or seeding soil with a future cover crop.

Bayer expects to ramp up production in 2027, and Leake said he hopes that by later this decade, farmers will be growing short corn everywhere.

“We see the opportunity for this to be the new normal both in the US and in other parts of the world,” he said.