Developing Affordable Seed Corn for On-Farm Production and Sales

Progress report for FNC21-1286

FNC21-1286 (project overview)
Project Type: Farmer/Rancher
Funds awarded in 2021: $27,000.00
Projected End Date: 07/31/2023
Grant Recipient: Z Mojego Ogrodu
Region: North Central
State: Wisconsin
Project Coordinator:
Frank Kutka
Email
Z Mojego Ogrodu
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Project Information

Description of operation:

We vary in size from a 65 acre mini-farm to several hundred acres used for raising cattle or seed crops.

One of our farm team members is an organic farmer, and two others are looking to transition. Several of us are beginning to work cover crops into our rotations, and two of us are adapting reduced tillage methods into our operations. This grant may help several of us work into seed crops if we are successful and find an economic alternative that is well adapted to our operations.

Summary:

Corn prices are low, input costs are high.  We know rotation, cover crops, and reduced tillage can improve this and our environment, but reduced seed costs and seed sales could also improve economic viability in a socially responsible manner.  Open pollinated (OP) corn is cheap and great for silage, but rarely for grain due to low yields.  We have a good OP (Dairyland) corn variety that deserves improvement for yield.  The fastest way to improve corn is hybridization, so we used modern and exotic lines identified from reported genomic and new field-testing to potentially boost the performance of Dairyland.  We made and tested topcross hybrids in 2019-2021 from North Dakota to Vermont, and have also formed a new synthetic OP population (by intermating the best of these crosses) in 2022 with the hope to increase yields and seed sale opportunities.  We measured grain nutritional quality and other factors to evaluate the economics of on-farm seed production (reviewer suggestion), and have found a student at UW-Madison to help with those evaluations in 2023.  We posted a video online to promote the project, and held a field day in Minnesota in fall of 2022.  Information and seeds will be released to the public in 2023 and beyond.

Project Objectives:
  1. Evaluate 30 corn testcrosses and check varieties in university trials and on our farms.  (Completed in 2021)
  2. Hold field events in MN, WI, and MI to discuss sustainable corn and seed production.  (Event held in Minnesota in 2022)
  3. Evaluate changes in knowledge and predicted changes in behavior among attendees.  (2 attendees already grow OP corn)
  4. Evaluate the economics of on-farm seed production with a collaborating student.  (Underway in 2023)
  5. Post our methods and findings to the internet and Extension/NGO cooperators.  (Started in 2022, more planned for 2023)
  6. Hold a webinar about our methods and findings, evaluate changes among audience as above.  (Planned for 2023)
  7. Increase and release seeds so farmers can grow their own superior topcross hybrids or OP corn varieties.  (Started in 2022, more in 2023)

Cooperators

Click linked name(s) to expand/collapse or show everyone's info
  • Audrey Alwell
  • Stephanie Blumhagen
  • Dr. Heather Darby
  • Eric Doornbos - Producer
  • Scott Dudek - Producer
  • Jerry Ford
  • Verna Kragnes
  • Dr. Joe Lauer
  • Dr. Joel Ransom
  • Dr. Erin Silva
  • Dr. Maninder Singh
  • Dr. Margaret Smith
  • Stan Smith - Producer
  • Dr. Bill Tracy

Research

Materials and methods:

A superior OP corn variety, Dairyland, was crossed with inbred lines from USDA and North Dakota State University (NDSU).  Recent genomic studies allowed us to choose inbreds that could add hybrid vigor to crosses with Dairyland, especially lines with Minnesota 13, Iodent, Pioneer Mixed, Flint, and exotic backgrounds.  Frank Kutka crossed lines/populations with Dairyland in 2019-2020 using hand pollination.

            Kutka sent seed of twenty-two testcrosses, two hybrid checks, and six OP checks to university cooperators in ND, WI, MI, NY, and VT in April 2021 for evaluation of yield, lodging, and grain moisture in replicated trials.  Each collaborating farmer also planted out a single replicate of each experimental entry on their farms.  Plots were two rows and @18’ long, planted in a block with an OP corn border.  Plots on one farm were demolished before full growth, but the other four came through enough for evaluation of nutritional quality.

            Kutka and Smith collected management data from our regular seed production, and several other farmers across the region also provided data on the time and effort involved in seed production.  The on-farm plots were featured in a video, with field events cancelled due to the pandemic.  We will still discuss breeding, seed production, and sustainable corn production in an upcoming video and webinar.  We collect grain from the farmer plots and sent it to a DHIA lab for NIR analysis of major nutrients.  Plots were also be scored for plant form and lodging.  These data and the data from university trials were summarized and shared with Extension, Non-governmental organizations, and via a video on Facebook and YouTube.  Further economic evaluations will also be carried out in 2023 with our collaborating student.

In 2022, we increased and crossed seeds of the best testcrosses to form an improved version of Dairyland, and in 2023 we will release it publicly via the USDA (free to breeders) and sales.  A second video and a ZOOM webinar will further highlight project findings and accomplishments in 2023.

Research results and discussion:

Seeds of our thirty experimental varieties (test crosses, OP varieties, check hybrids) were counted out, packed, and shipped to all project participants in spring of 2021.  We thank Bill Tracy for allowing us to use his seed counter!  Replicated trials were planted by NDSU, UW-Madison, MSU, Cornell, and UVM.  Farmers in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and New York planted single replicates to grow grain for nutritional analyses and to provide a backdrop for field events.  However, the planting in Michigan was destroyed by flooding, and the pandemic continued so we cancelled all field events.  Instead, on 18 October we posted a project introductory video on the Corn Culture blog on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/cornculture.info/).

As of January 2023, all the universities have submitted their data.  Preliminary summaries of these were posted to the Corn Culture blog early in 2022 and they also featured in our fall 2022 field event at Stan Smith's farm in Minnesota.  All nutrient data have been collected and analyzed.  These were summarized and posted on the Corn Culture blog on Facebook as well.  They were mentioned during our fall field event and will also be explained in our last video and webinar in 2023.

Here are our data from our variety trial in 2021.  We start with region-wide means for each test cross, OP, and hybrid.  Minnesota 13 and Stan's OP were both quite good, although the hybrid checks certainly carried the day when it came to yield.  Several of the test crosses can lift the yield of Dairyland to that of Stan's OP, and quite likely also push the standing ability up close to the hybrids, but none actually got much beyond it for yield or other measures.  Most were also a little wetter, so later maturing.  Generally the nutritional quality of the OP varieties and testcrosses trended above those of the hybrids, but only a little.  Percentage Crude Protein and Crude Fat were up to about two points above the hybrids in some cases.
 
Averages across Sites from North Dakota to Vermont          
PEDIGREE YIELD RANK LODGING % MOIST Y/M %Cpro %Cfat
B73s/Dairyland 155 6 4.0 20.4 7.52 9.45 5.23
B37s/Dairyland 133 12 2.3 21.0 6.39 9.68 5.55
Iodents/Dairyland 149 8 1.4 21.3 6.94 10.03 5.70
Pioneer Mixed/Dairyland 153 7 3.8 20.6 7.13 9.10 5.35
Mo17s/Dairyland 149 8 2.7 20.1 7.17 9.45 5.50
MN13s/Dairyland 129 16 3.9 19.7 5.99 9.48 5.13
EP1/CO255//Dairyland 109 22 3.8 20.1 5.31 10.43 5.68
80-1/No. 380//Dairyland 113 23 11.4 21.1 5.25 10.33 6.30
Pete Seeger Cross/Dairyland 114 22 5.7 19.9 5.35 9.85 6.13
Wachichu/Compton's Early//Dairyland 115 19 11.8 21.1 5.72 9.90 6.35
Dairyland/(FBHJ/Euro Flint S3) 116 19 3.8 19.6 5.66 10.15 6.23
ND2004/Dairyland 133 13 0.9 20.3 6.55 9.45 5.25
ND2006/Dairyland 115 20 7.9 19.3 5.70 9.93 5.25
(CG-BS16/Syn A-NL)/Dairyland 102 25 8.0 19.4 5.11 9.90 5.90
Cateto Cross/Dairyland 97 27 4.6 20.9 4.29 9.75 5.83
NDBSK/Dairyland 130 14 4.6 22.1 5.70 9.63 5.90
Silver King/Dairyland 116 20 14.9 20.7 6.02 9.75 5.98
Dairyland/Cuzco Cross 118 18 12.7 25.8 4.75 9.68 5.50
Dairyland/Cacahuacintle Cross 115 20 16.1 22.6 5.40 10.40 6.10
Dairyland/Conico Cross 132 13 6.8 21.9 6.02 10.10 5.70
Sequia/Dairyland 111 22 7.4 20.7 4.84 9.40 5.80
Dairyland/Coroico Cross 125 15 2.1 22.8 5.92 10.25 6.50
Minnesota 13 137 11 8.0 19.0 7.27 9.63 5.03
Dublin 118 19 23.6 22.6 5.57 10.38 5.10
Stan's OP 147 8 5.9 19.7 7.75 9.15 4.85
Wapsie Valley 125 15 28.5 21.1 6.80 10.10 5.65
Tommy Boy 125 16 14.1 21.6 6.15 10.20 5.28
Dairyland 109 24 3.6 20.7 5.14 10.03 5.70
FDO 8833 203 1 1.6 19.6 10.64 8.13 4.50
FDO 8924 190 2 1.5 19.4 9.92 7.98 4.55
 
These are the averages for yield and lodging from the trial carried out by NDSU in North Dakota. Our trial was composed largely of testcrosses onto the Dairyland population, some OP varieties that we have bred or are available from friends who sell them, and two hybrids from Foundation Direct Organic. In this trial we see that the check hybrids set a blistering pace for yield, and they also stood very well. They outyielded the best OP variety by just over 40%. The Pioneer Mixed lines crossed well with Dairyland here and this topcross hybrid appeared potentially competitive with the checks in North Dakota this year at this site, maybe the Minnesota 13 type lines too. Exotic types of maize did not add much to these crosses here. The best OPs at this site were Minnesota 13, from Green Haven, and Stan's OP, a composite recently developed by one of us in southeastern Minnesota. Some others had very high lodging in this trial. Could OPs be bred to yield higher than @130 bu/acre? These preliminary results suggest a major incremental step forward that could possibly be made in yield and lodging with the right synthetic population for North Dakota.
 
PEDIGREE YIELD LODGING STAND
B73s/Dairyland 161 1 70
B37s/Dairyland 130 0 45
Iodents/Dairyland 164 1 73
Pioneer Mixed/Dairyland 181 1 70
Mo17s/Dairyland 169 0 71
MN13s/Dairyland 174 1 71
EP1/CO255//Dairyland 117 2 73
80-1/No. 380//Dairyland 119 9 70
Pete Seeger Cross/Dairyland 145 1 69
Wachichu/Compton's Early//Dairyland 93 17 61
Dairyland/(FBHJ/Euro Flint S3) 137 2 69
ND2004/Dairyland 131 0 69
ND2006/Dairyland 138 1 69
(CG-BS16/Syn A-NL)/Dairyland 115 1 70
Cateto Cross/Dairyland 126 2 71
NDBSK/Dairyland 147 2 68
Silver King/Dairyland 86 32 51
Dairyland/Cuzco Cross 97 23 57
Dairyland/Cacahuacintle Cross 84 29 54
Dairyland/Conico Cross 132 6 68
Sequia/Dairyland 150 0 70
Dairyland/Coroico Cross 86 2 64
Minnesota 13 135 8 65
Dublin 89 36 46
Stan's OP 128 4 59
Wapsie Valley 54 49 45
Tommy Boy 97 19 41
Dairyland 119 4 62
FDO 8833 184 0 70
FDO 8924 194 0 71
 
In Wisconsin these same trends generally held.  Hybrid yields really took off here, with Stan's OP and the very best test crosses forming a second tier.  Most of the OP varieties did not stand very well, whereas Stan's OP, Minnesota 13, and Dairyland did stand pretty well.
 
Pedigree Yield Lodging Moisture
B73s/Dairyland 173 3 20.1
B37s/Dairyland 147 7 20.9
Iodents/Dairyland 186 2 21.6
Pioneer Mixed/Dairyland 161 5 19.9
Mo17s/Dairyland 160 8 19.9
MN13s/Dairyland 136 5 19
EP1/CO255//Dairyland 146 3 20.6
80-1/No. 380//Dairyland 133 13 21.2
Pete Seeger Cross/Dairyland 134 8 20
Wachichu/Compton's Early//Dairyland 152 10 20.9
Dairyland/(FBHJ/Euro Flint S3) 134 6 19.8
ND2004/Dairyland 168 1 20.2
ND2006/Dairyland 139 6 20.7
(CG-BS16/Syn A-NL)/Dairyland 127 7 18.3
Cateto Cross/Dairyland 124 6 21.5
NDBSK/Dairyland 158 4 22
Silver King/Dairyland 131 15 20.6
Dairyland/Cuzco Cross 144 10 30
Dairyland/Cacahuacintle Cross 136 10 23.2
Dairyland/Conico Cross 164 10 22.7
Sequia/Dairyland 134 5 21
Dairyland/Coroico Cross 144 3 23.8
Minnesota 13 146 9 17.8
Dublin 119 23 24.1
Stan's OP 175 6 19.1
Wapsie Valley 142 18 21.6
Tommy Boy 138 20 22.3
Dairyland 129 2 19.9
FDO 8833 238 2 19.4
FDO 8924 223 3 17
 
Results from the trial carried out by MSU in Michigan follow the same general pattern as in Wisconsin.  Getting an improved OP variety that would yield closer to 200 bu/acre here looks much less likely given these results, but lodging could likely be reduced without too much trouble so long as early maturity was pushed to recover better dry down through ongoing selection.
 
PEDIGREE YIELD LODGING MOISTURE
B73s/Dairyland 182 4.6 23
B37s/Dairyland 150 0.3 23
Iodents/Dairyland 158 1.8 22
Pioneer Mixed/Dairyland 171 1.2 23
Mo17s/Dairyland 169 0.9 22
MN13s/Dairyland 139 0 22
EP1/CO255//Dairyland 118 5.3 22
80-1/No. 380//Dairyland 127 10 23
Pete Seeger Cross/Dairyland 110 5.8 22
Wachichu/Compton's Early//Dairyland 108 9.5 23
Dairyland/(FBHJ/Euro Flint S3) 137 3.3 21
ND2004/Dairyland 163 0 22
ND2006/Dairyland 110 16.4 19
(CG-BS16/Syn A-NL)/Dairyland 94 12.8 22
Cateto Cross/Dairyland 88 6 21
NDBSK/Dairyland 145 1.2 24
Silver King/Dairyland 136 6 23
Dairyland/Cuzco Cross 153 8.2 26
Dairyland/Cacahuacintle Cross 131 4.9 24
Dairyland/Conico Cross 143 4.2 24
Sequia/Dairyland 105 15.4 21
Dairyland/Coroico Cross 153 0 24
Minnesota 13 148 9.3 21
Dublin 127 17.5 24
Stan's OP 161 5.2 21
Wapsie Valley 127 25.4 23
Tommy Boy 135 6.7 23
Dairyland 128 0.6 23
FDO 8833 235 0 22
FDO 8924 208 2.1 22
 
Here are the results from New York State from an organic trial conducted by Cornell University.  Once more the hybrid checks were clearly on top, with the best one outyielding the best OP by about 35%. However, in this trial the best OP outyielded all of the testcrosses on average. Wapsie Valley from Green Haven took the lead of the OPs here, with Minnesota 13, Stan's OP, and Tommy Boy also competing well with the very best of the testcrosses. For this environment with these results one might expect at best that a good synthetic might join these OP varieties and have perhaps lower lodging. That would be a much smaller improvement than what might be possible elsewhere, although very handy for harvest.
 
PEDIGREE YIELD LODGING MOIST
B73s/Dairyland 130 7 18
B37s/Dairyland 140 2 19
Iodents/Dairyland 142 1 18
Pioneer Mixed/Dairyland 134 8 18
Mo17s/Dairyland 126 2 18
MN13s/Dairyland 105 10 18
EP1/CO255//Dairyland 98 5 18
80-1/No. 380//Dairyland 95 14 19
Pete Seeger Cross/Dairyland 93 8 18
Wachichu/Compton's Early//Dairyland 107 11 19
Dairyland/(FBHJ/Euro Flint S3) 114 4 18
ND2004/Dairyland 96 3 19
ND2006/Dairyland 102 8 17
(CG-BS16/Syn A-NL)/Dairyland 77 12 18
Cateto Cross/Dairyland 75 4 19
NDBSK/Dairyland 111 11 20
Silver King/Dairyland 111 6 18
Dairyland/Cuzco Cross 102 9 22
Dairyland/Cacahuacintle Cross 91 21 20
Dairyland/Conico Cross 118 7 19
Sequia/Dairyland 68 9 19
Dairyland/Coroico Cross 130 4 21
Minnesota 13 134 6 18
Dublin 127 18 20
Stan's OP 137 9 19
Wapsie Valley 148 21 19
Tommy Boy 139 10 20
Dairyland 90 8 18
FDO 8833 201 4 18
FDO 8924 181 1 18
 
In Vermont they suffered through a significant drought in 2021.  These low yield results show the intensity of this very dry season.  However, in this organic trial Wapsie Valley did as well as the hybrid varieties.  The testcrosses and other OP varieties were much lower.  Clearly Wapsie Valley has great adaptation to this environment.  Improving an OP here should perhaps begin with Wapsie Valley instead of with Dairyland which seems much less well adapted to this particular environment.
 
Pedigree Yield %Moist
B73s/Dairyland 131.6 20.3
B37s/Dairyland 96.4 20.9
Iodents/Dairyland 95.4 23.7
Pioneer Mixed/Dairyland 119.8 20.9
Mo17s/Dairyland 122.1 20.7
MN13s/Dairyland 90.8 20.0
EP1/CO255//Dairyland 67.4 19.8
80-1/No. 380//Dairyland 90.0 21.4
Pete Seeger Cross/Dairyland 88.3 19.6
Wachichu/Compton's Early//Dairyland 113.6 21.2
Dairyland/(FBHJ/Euro Flint S3) 56.6 20.1
ND2004/Dairyland 109.0 20.5
ND2006/Dairyland 88.5 20.2
(CG-BS16/Syn A-NL)/Dairyland 95.8 19.6
Cateto Cross/Dairyland 71.8 22.4
NDBSK/Dairyland 90.6 22.5
Silver King/Dairyland 117.5 21.1
Dairyland/Cuzco Cross 92.5 24.8
Dairyland/Cacahuacintle Cross 133.8 23.2
Dairyland/Conico Cross 102.6 22.0
Sequia/Dairyland 96.0 22.2
Dairyland/Coroico Cross 111.8 22.6
Minnesota 13 122.0 19.1
Dublin 127.5 22.8
Stan's OP 135.7 20.1
Wapsie Valley 152.0 20.8
Tommy Boy 116.3 21.3
Dairyland 77.2 21.3
FDO-8833 159.0 19.6
FDO-8924 142.7 21.0
 
Our average corn nutrient data from the farms are presented here, with means for each cross and variety and also means by each farm.  We have not yet run ANOVA to test differences among the means, but the trends in the data are that the test crosses and OP varieties were sometimes slightly better than the hybrid check varieties for some parameters, but that the highest nutritional quality usually also came with varieties or crosses that were the lowest yielding.  That said, Adjusted Crude Protein percentage was generally 1-2.5 points above the hybrids across the test crosses and OP varieties.  Also, Eric's farm produced grain with higher than average grain nutritional quality, and we are still wondering how that happened!
 
2021 Farmer Nutrient Analyses - As Dry Matter                        
Farm Entry %AdjCP Degr %CP %Lignin %Starch %Cfat %Ash %TDN NEG %P %K %Lysine %Methio
All B73s/Dairyland 9.45 36.50 0.78 70.18 5.23 1.49 90.50 0.72 0.36 0.45 0.27 0.20
All B37s/Dairyland 9.68 35.25 0.88 67.48 5.55 1.66 90.25 0.72 0.38 0.49 0.27 0.21
All Iodents/Dairyland 10.03 36.50 0.83 65.78 5.70 1.61 90.50 0.73 0.40 0.49 0.29 0.22
All Pioneer Mixed/Dairyland 9.10 40.00 0.78 69.23 5.35 1.55 90.25 0.72 0.39 0.47 0.26 0.19
All Mo17s/Dairyland 9.45 37.75 0.85 68.20 5.50 1.54 90.25 0.72 0.39 0.48 0.27 0.20
All MN13s/Dairyland 9.48 35.00 0.98 69.05 5.13 1.56 90.00 0.72 0.38 0.46 0.27 0.21
All EP1/CO255//Dairyland 10.43 35.00 0.98 65.80 5.68 1.63 90.50 0.73 0.41 0.49 0.30 0.22
All 80-1/No. 380//Dairyland 10.33 37.75 0.90 65.58 6.30 1.74 91.25 0.74 0.44 0.52 0.29 0.22
All Pete Seeger Cross/Dairyland 9.85 36.25 0.88 67.35 6.13 1.60 91.00 0.73 0.41 0.50 0.28 0.21
All Wachichu/Compton's Early//Dairyland 9.90 37.25 0.93 66.63 6.35 1.54 91.25 0.74 0.41 0.51 0.28 0.21
All Dairyland/(FBHJ/Euro Flint S3) 10.15 36.50 0.85 65.93 6.23 1.62 91.50 0.74 0.43 0.51 0.29 0.22
All ND2004/Dairyland 9.45 37.00 0.70 67.98 5.25 1.52 90.25 0.72 0.39 0.48 0.27 0.20
All ND2006/Dairyland 9.93 35.75 0.80 67.50 5.25 1.60 90.00 0.72 0.40 0.49 0.28 0.21
All (CG-BS16/Syn A-NL)/Dairyland 9.90 39.25 0.78 66.30 5.90 1.56 91.25 0.74 0.41 0.51 0.28 0.21
All Cateto Cross/Dairyland 9.75 38.75 0.83 67.88 5.83 1.55 91.00 0.73 0.41 0.49 0.28 0.21
All NDBSK/Dairyland 9.63 37.75 0.63 67.50 5.90 1.55 91.25 0.74 0.39 0.49 0.27 0.20
All Silver King/Dairyland 9.75 38.00 0.85 67.35 5.98 1.59 91.00 0.73 0.43 0.52 0.28 0.21
All Dairyland/Cuzco Cross 9.68 38.75 0.85 67.73 5.50 1.71 90.25 0.72 0.39 0.49 0.28 0.21
All Dairyland/Cacahuacintle Cross 10.40 38.00 0.73 64.90 6.10 1.65 91.50 0.74 0.41 0.49 0.30 0.22
All Dairyland/Conico Cross 10.10 38.75 0.68 65.93 5.70 1.60 90.75 0.73 0.39 0.48 0.29 0.22
All Sequia/Dairyland 9.40 39.67 0.87 67.33 5.80 1.62 90.67 0.73 0.39 0.49 0.27 0.20
All Dairyland/Coroico Cross 10.25 38.50 0.78 65.20 6.50 1.71 91.75 0.75 0.43 0.53 0.29 0.22
All Minnesota 13 9.63 37.00 0.88 67.20 5.03 1.60 89.75 0.71 0.39 0.48 0.28 0.21
All Dublin 10.38 36.75 0.95 65.08 5.10 1.63 89.75 0.71 0.38 0.49 0.29 0.22
All Stan's OP 9.15 36.25 0.73 70.18 4.85 1.53 90.00 0.71 0.35 0.46 0.26 0.19
All Wapsie Valley 10.10 37.50 0.90 65.95 5.65 1.76 90.25 0.72 0.42 0.51 0.29 0.22
All Tommy Boy 10.20 37.25 1.03 65.03 5.28 1.64 89.75 0.72 0.40 0.49 0.29 0.22
All Dairyland 10.03 36.50 0.78 66.35 5.70 1.67 90.50 0.73 0.34 0.49 0.29 0.22
All FDO 8833 8.13 40.00 0.70 72.60 4.50 1.53 89.75 0.71 0.34 0.42 0.23 0.17
All FDO 8924 7.98 41.50 0.70 73.63 4.55 1.64 89.50 0.71 0.35 0.44 0.23 0.17
                           
2021 Farmer Nutrient Analyses - As Dry Matter                        
Farm Entry %AdjCP Degr %CP %Lignin %Starch %Cfat %Ash %TDN NEG %P %K %Lysine %Methio
Kutka All 9.62 39.17 1.03 66.35 5.50 1.69 89.83 0.72 0.40 0.49 0.27 0.20
Roger All 9.97 36.00 0.53 68.01 5.50 1.43 91.45 0.73 0.36 0.47 0.28 0.21
Stan All 9.09 40.30 0.57 69.62 5.55 1.52 91.23 0.73 0.38 0.48 0.26 0.19
Eric All 10.22 34.63 1.15 65.74 5.77 1.78 89.67 0.72 0.42 0.51 0.29 0.22
Participation Summary
5 Farmers participating in research

Educational & Outreach Activities

1 Curricula, factsheets or educational tools
1 On-farm demonstrations

Participation Summary:

366 Farmers participated
Education/outreach description:

The pandemic squashed our use of traditional field events and meetings with fellow farmers in 2021.  We did post a video on the Corn Culture blog on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/cornculture.info/), along with some tables of preliminary data.  As of 29 January 2023, 366 people had noticed our introductory video and 72+ had taken notice of the video, our data, photo, and other postings.

In October, 2022 we held a traditional field event at Stan Smith's Farm in southeastern Minnesota.  Another couple interested in OP corn joined the Smiths and Frank Kutka.  Interest in a video of our results (planned for 2023) has been expressed on the Corn Culture Facebook page.  We also intend to hold a webinar as soon as our economic evaluations are completed this spring.

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Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.