Corn farmers, in the Northern Corn Belt, have rapid access to new hybrids due, in part, to the work of the Monsanto Molecular Breeding Lab in Ankeny, Iowa.
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Seed lab in Ankeny, Iowa helps corn-breeding work in Olivia, Minn.
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Monsanto Corn Seed Breeder Marv Boerboom, Ph.D. shows the future genetics of commercial hybrids in five years. Out of several thousand unique inbreds he tests each year, perhaps one will make it to commercialization.
Seth Dobrin, Ph.D. serves as the Monsanto director of Global Applied Genotyping Labs. He is pictured here with the corn seed chipper.
A Monsanto employee pours the bulk seed into the corn seed chipper hopper. A wheel singulates the seed. Each kernel is presented to a vacuum cup that holds it in place.
The chipper preserves the identity of the selected breeding seed for planting in a nursery.
Monsanto Corn Seed Breeder Marv Boerboom, Ph.D. shows a schematic on how hybrids progress through testing levels over years to reach commercial status.
