Farmer/Seed Breeder Develops Giant Corn

Farmer/seed breeder develops giant corn CROPS New Crops 10-2-4 "We think it's the biggest breakthrough ever in corn silage," says plant breeder and farmer Leonard Juhnke, Sedgwick, Kan., about the gigantic silage corn he developed by combining eight different crosses from all different geographic areas in the U.S. Juhnke, who also sells his own wheat varieties, put the corn on the market for the first time last fall. The gigantic corn grows to heights of 17 ft. and produces twice the tonnage per acre as conventional varieties at lower plant populations, according to Juhnke. "Its stalks are as big around as a man's wrist. TDN tests out at 90.21 versus 80 to 85 for many silage varieties. Protein from our crop last fall tested at 12.32% versus about 8% for my other corn. Crude fiber tests at 3.41% and fat at 5.4%. This is a corn that's bred for silage. Other silage corn is just seed corn that's being used for silage," states Juhnke. Ears on the open-pollinated corn are multi-colored with blue, white, yellow and red kernels. Because the red tends to dominate, Juhnke says growers will have to go back to the original cross ù buying more seed from him ù every few years. "I've been working on this corn for 11 years. It'll grow anywhere in the country, with protein content rising higher the further north you go," says Juhnke. The new silage corn sells for $100 per bu. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Leonard J. Juhnke, Sedgwick, Kan. 67135 (ph 316 772-5638).

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