Kasey Dresser | January 29, 2018

This week’s segment looks at research from the University of Wisconsin regarding corn’s ability to adapt to environmental changes.

Transcript:

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin report that mass produced corn has lost its ability to adapt.

This is the Iowa Environmental Focus.

Like most plants, corn adapts to changes in the surrounding environment, including things like drought, wind, sunlight, and insects.

In order to mass produce corn, seed companies have breed the most productive corn varieties to fit local environmental conditions. However over the past 100 years, acclimating corn to a specific environment has impacted its ability to adjust to new or stressful environmental changes. The existing corn is strong and stable but not flexible.

To test this, the researchers planted 850 unique corn varieties in 20 different states and Canada. They tested 12,000 different plots and recorded  weather patterns and corn height. The corn with the most genetic selection performed the worst, producing the least amount of grain. According to University of Wisconsin Professor of Agronomy, Natalia De Leon, mass productivity is the tradeoff for flexibility. She worries the more corn is engineered to grow in a specific area, the less likely it will adapt well in other environments.

For more information, visit iowa-environmental-focus-dot-org.

From the UI Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, I’m Betsy Stone.