August 2020
Welcome to the August edition of our information exchange platform. This month we discuss the GEI corn breeding nursery, international interest in specialty corn, and field day options.


Missed last month's E-Newsletter? Catch up in the News section of our website
Field Work Activities: Planting to Pollinating at our Location
Farmer neighbors in our area around Luther, Iowa started planting very early this year. Luckily, it was the right decision.  It took us a little while and we planted strip trials, expo, nursery, and yield test plots on May 2nd.  Our first pollination was July 8th and our last was July 31st.   Normal heat unit accumulation for this period is 1790.  At our research station this year, 1924 heat units were accumulated.

Every year we have a breeding plan for our summer nursery. Most of the plans involve multi-year flow charts to advance the breeding schemes needed to develop a product. Other activities in the nursery involves inbred line maintenance, inbred line increases, new breeding crosses, and data collection. All the breeding projects are allocated with a number of rows and a place according to breeding actions and maturity groups.

We plan to avoid over walking the field and planning the pollinating workload to avoid nursery overload during the flowering period. Hot days tend to move the flowering quickly making more pollinating work to be done at the same time.  Our plan for a hot day was to be at the nursery early, get the work done and leave the field before reaching the peak temperature of the day.  Our nursery this year moved fast because of the higher heat unit accumulation during the season. There is always a good feeling when the breeding nursery is done for the season.  
Flagged Row
Flagged Range
Mission Accomplished!
The expo planting is very interesting this year with 3 early (RM 95 to 108) hybrids, 2 late (RM 112) hybrids,1 high carotene, 2 new whites. 2 high lysine, 3 new blues, 1 resistant starch, and 2 popcorns.  Despite dry conditions, they all look great.
Strips and expo
The strip trials are planted with the 2 late hybrids, 2 early hybrids (RM 95-105), a floury-1 hybrid and a mushroom popcorn hybrid.

We did not experience mosquitoes or gnats like last year.  There were only a couple of days with some mud on our shoes.  Japanese beetles think corn silks are wonderful and landed on the silks of some hybrids. When the corn is mature the ear tips look like they have been damaged by birds. The Japanese beetles ate some pollen on the inbreds, but the pollen and silks of the material in the nursery were pretty much too early for their attack. I think they liked the silks of the hybrids to get the water during the dry and hot weather. 
Current Views of Food in Agriculture
 Lots of conversations are taking place because of the trade disruptions and the effects of the pandemic on animal production and processing industries.
Most of the corn, soybeans and wheat are produced for the export markets; a good amount goes to the feed industries for animal production for local and export consumption and a relatively small amount goes for the food industry.  

The pandemic has uncovered many areas of concern in our agricultural systems. Within this landscape, there are some areas that tie in closely to the needs of the consumer. One of the current trends is to focus on nutritional aspects of food production to satisfy the needs of a growing population. Consumers are looking for healthy nutritional products. They have an interest in knowing how the food was produced, handled, and distributed. 

In response to these interests and trends, breeders are looking at the nutritional value of cereal grains, fruits, and vegetables.  Food processors are looking at ways to balance the nutritional value of their products using multiple food products to meet the nutritional needs of the consumers.

One example of looking for nutritional balance is the development of a new wheat variety that has a modified starch with high amylose content above 70%. (Cereal Foods World, Vol. 65, No 3) This wheat will provide the right level of resistant starch to meet the recommended levels for a healthy diet.

Additionally, this wheat product will be formulated with quinoa, a grain high in protein and a high balance of essential amino acids such as lysine. Quinoa is a high protein grain native to the highland regions of South America. This grain is available commercially. 

Bread made with high amylose wheat and quinoa will have a significant effect on the nutritional value of bread.  Along these lines, GEI (Genetic Enterprises International) has developed a high amylose hybrid with 68-70% amylose content (GEI 1100 RS) that can be classified as a Class 7 for amylose content. This hybrid can be utilized in the food industry to produce resistant starch snack products and other food formulations. (This hybrid can be viewed at the GEI Expo in Luther, see below).
GEI 1100 RS
Specialty Corns in International Markets
Corn specialties are beginning to catch attention in the international agricultural trade business. June 30th was the opening date for a virtual congress in Argentina organized by Maizar (Argentina Corn and Sorghum Association). This event was attended by the local seed industry, agricultural institutions, government agencies and trade.

One point of interest to GEI was the information obtained from an interview of Dr. Lucas Borras, a breeder with the University of Rosario in Argentina. Dr Borras reported that Argentina produces 300,000 acres of flint corn for export to the EU. The flint corn is milled primarily for making corn flakes. This grain is preferred to other corns because of the hard, yellow flint endosperm. The grain mills large grits that are cooked, rolled, and baked into corn flakes. Manufacturers prefer this grit because of the size, color, and the ability to remain crisp in a bowl with milk for a longer time without getting soggy.

This information is along the lines of the kernel description and endosperm properties of GEI 2312 and GEI 2318 high carotenoid flint hybrids. 
These hybrids have 2.0-2.5 times the provitamin level of normal yellow corn. Additionally, these hybrids have a high level of zeaxanthin in the endosperm. This pigment was been found useful in preventing macular degeneration in older adults. The two GEI hybrids are also a prime product to produce polenta. There are many other food product applications for this corn such as grits, corn meal or flour.
GEI 2312
GEI 2312 Grits
Dr. Borras also reported that Argentina produces and exports 150,000 acres of popcorn. Popcorn exports from this country are the largest in the market. Popcorn production is highest in the U.S.A., but most of it is used for home consumption. GEI 201 POP and GEI 202M are popcorn hybrids with good competitive advantage. These two hybrids can be observed in the GEI hybrid observation plots in Luther.

Another specialty corn of interest in this specialty corns congress in Argentina was blue corn. One company that produced GEI 411C reported that food companies that were presented with the grain of this hybrid commented that they did not know that this type of corn existed. We are looking forward to the entrance of this product into the trade. 

GEI has three blue corn hybrids. GEI 411C is a high anthocyanin hybrid with two types of pigment, red in the pericarp and blue in the aleurone layer. Two new hybrids entering in the market are GEI 5121 C, introduced in 2020.  It is a blue aleurone corn with good milling traits. The second is GEI 5132 C, a high yielding hybrid with a red pericarp and blue aleurone layer.  This hybrid is being produced this year and seed will be available for 2021 season planting. These products can be seen at the Expo plots in Luther.
GEI 411C
GEI 5132C
GEI 5121C
GEI Expo 2020
We made plantings of GEI commercial hybrids on an Observation block in 4 row plots and a 12-row planting of strip blocks of selected hybrid products to simulate farm level production plantings with a better visualization of the hybrid characteristics.

Specialty corn hybrids on display:
4 row plots/hybrid

GEI 2312          RM114 high carotenoid

GEI 5143W      RM 110 White
GEI 9774W      RM 110 White

GEI 9887 lys    RM105 lysine
GEI 114 lys      RM 110 lysine

GEI 1100 RS    RM 110 High amylose

GEI 201 POP   RM 110 Popcorn flake
GEI 202 M       RM 112 Popcorn mushroom

GEI 411C         RM 110 blue
GEI 5121 C      RM 110 blue
GEI5132 C       RM 110 blue

Conventional hybrids on display are:

GEI 9010 seed will be available as ORGANIC and conventional options for early corns.  This hybrid has an excellent yield record, good as a grain and silage dual purpose hybrid for the early maturity zone (RM 95-105)

GEI 9757 RM 110, an experimental hybrid with a high yield record

GEI 9700 RM 105, which is a consistent hybrid in this maturity

GEI 1050 is an RM 112 hybrid with a high yield record. It looks outstanding under heat

GEI 1060, another RM 112 high hybrid with a little different canopy.

Strip Plantings
12 row strips planted side by side 

GEI 1050 RM 112
GEI 1060 RM 112
GEI 9010 RM 95-RM105
GEI 9700 RM 105-RM108

Inka Maiz RM 95-RM 105, a specialty floury-1 hybrid for food. 
This hybrid has been planted commercially by a farmer that will make a great entrance with this product in the food market in the tortilla and Mexican food restaurants, tortilla factories, home product markets,
This hybrid brings the corn consumed by the Inca royalty.
The grain of this hybrid has been studied with focus on the starch and starch modification with high amylose corn to improve the level of resistant starches important in controlling obesity. 

GEI 202 M, a mushroom popcorn hybrid for the snack markets
Field Day 2020
Due to the pandemic, we will not have a formal field day.  Instead, we are proposing to have the hybrid displays available for visitors to come and see.  We will be happy to schedule the visits during the week of August 23rd or any other date at your convenience. Please contact by phone, (515) 865-8834.
(515) 865-8834