Future of Hybrid Corn in the South

The corn hybrids now available for planting in the South represent only a preliminary effort in the breeding of special types for the area. They are the product of only a fraction of the time, energy, and funds that have been devoted to the development of corn hybrids for the Corn Belt. It is not surprising, therefore, that they answer the requirements of their region less precisely than do the hybrids now available for the Corn Belt. One should remember that the greater hazards of corn production in the South necessarily increase the attributes required in desirable hybrids and, naturally, multiply the difficulties involved in breeding them.

The great numbers of disease and insect pests in the South will require the concentration of many desirable characters in order to obtain the desired levels of resistance. Encouraging progress is being made, evidence of resistance to many insects and diseases is at hand, and definite sources of resistance have been identified in many cases. But much more time will be needed for breeding the generations necessary to transfer, combine, concentrate, purify, and fix the desired characters in the inbred lines that are to become the parents of the outstanding hybrids of the future. Full-season hybrids for most of the South require long, tight-fitting husks to protect them from weevil damage from the time the ears ripen until they are harvested. Many of the Corn Belt hybrids yield well when grown in the South, but they lack the needed husk protection to prevent the grain from being damaged or entirely destroyed in the field before harvest.

The job before us is not easy or quick, but it is worth our best effort, time, and money. Think of the phenomenal expansion and success of corn hybrids in the Corn Belt. From a small beginning in 1933, confined almost entirely to Iowa and Illinois, hybrid corn expanded by leaps and bounds. In 1946 it occupied more than 62 million acres or 67.5 percent of the national corn acreage. This includes 99 percent or more of the acreage in Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana, 90 percent or more of the acreage in Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Missouri, and at least 80 percent of the acreage in Nebraska, Michigan, and New Jersey. In 1942, 1943, 1944, and 1945 the national corn production has exceeded 3 billion bushels and the estimated corn production for 1946 also was above 3 billion bushels. These yields are from national acreages appreciably below normal. The greater standability of the hybrids also has resulted in increased economies of production by decreasing the cost of harvesting and thus has resulted in greater profits to growers.

During the three war years of 1917, 1918, and 1919, we produced 8 billion bushels of corn on a total of 311 million acres. During the three war years of 1942, 1943, and 1944, we produced 9 1/3 billion bushels on 281 million acres-1,366,201,000 more bushels than in the earlier period, on n 30,522,000 fewer acres. This is equivalent to 5 billion pounds more meat a year-38 pounds more per person a year. When you look back to the fact that there were times during the last war when meat rationing got down to as low as 115 pounds a person a year, you can appreciate the importance of this extra production.

The research we are conducting will be a good business investment for Southern States, relatively as good, we hope, as the research of the past. Federal expenditures on corn improvement since the organization of the Department probably total between 4 and 5 million dollars. The increased yield of corn resulting from the planting of hybrid corn in 1945 probably amounted to about 700 million bushels. At a dollar a bushel, the increased income to farmers amounted to 700 million dollars. If only the normal tax of 3 percent were paid back into the United States Treasury on only one-third of this increased income, the extra income tax collected would amount to about 7 million dollars, which exceeds the total Federal expenditures for corn improvement since the Department was organized. These computations omit the extra taxes paid by the producers of hybrid seed corn, a new industry, that amounted to about 70 million dollars in 1945.

THE AUTHOR

Merle T. Jenkins is a principal agronomist in charge of corn investigation in the Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering. He organized and had charge of the hybrid corn-breeding program in cooperation with the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station from 1922 to 1934. Dr. Jenkins is a graduate of Iowa State College.