Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124 Page 125 Page 126 Page 127 Page 128 Page 129 Page 130 Page 131 Page 132 Page 133 Page 134 Page 135 Page 136 Page 137 Page 138 Page 139 Page 140 Page 141 Page 142 Page 143 Page 144 Page 145 Page 146 Page 147 Page 14898 / SEEDWORLD.COM DECEMBER 2016 But his real interest in corn genetics fired up as a University of Minnesota student when he worked in the crop genetics labora- tory. At North Dakota State as a graduate student, he worked in the barley department. His first “real world” job was in 1977 with Pfizer Genetics (formerly Trojan Seed Company, Olivia), which became DeKalb/ Pfizer in 1982 and eventually became part of the Monsanto Corporation. With so many successes in the corn genetics world, what ranks as his singular highlight? “I’d say it was the first million bag hybrid, DeKalb 250, which included one of my inbreds,” he says. “Sold only in Europe, this 85-90 day hybrid quickly captured the corn acreage of many European farmers. My first big impact hybrids in the U.S. Corn Belt were DK435 and KD547 which set the stage for the rapid expansion of corn production in the Northern Corn Belt, especially Minnesota, North Dakota and into Canada.” What’s his take on significant future breakthroughs in corn production? Boerboom reflected on the fact that the U.S. corn industry for the past 50 years has seen yield trend gains of about 1.5 bushels per acre per year. “I don’t see the genetic impact of this tapering off,” he says. “But some GMO events will get tweaked more and more which will enhance yield even more … that could be traits that improve drought tolerance or traits that provide greater insect protection. “But the big change has been in our breeding technologies. Crossing two inbreds, then selection among their segregates to Seed and grain cleanerS for the world Crippen Northland Superior Supply Co. 8-851 Lagimodiere Blvd. Winnipeg, MB Ph: 204-925-6141 www.northlandsuperior.com Air Screen Cleaners Indented Cylinder Length Separator Gravity Separator develop new lines had been the ‘status quo’ within the industry for years but that took generations of time and hundreds of dif- ferent inbreds. It was costly and very time consuming. “Then we started doing genetic finger printing and modeling to predict which of what particular breeding material was going to do best. I would send in 3,000 kernels of an F2 segregated population and design a model of the traits I was looking for. We’d check chromosome-by-chromosome dissecting to deter- mine which chromosome contained the best combination of desired traits in the model. “For example, perhaps just a single chromosome might increase yield by maybe 2 bushels but stalks might be worse by 0.5 percent at the same site. You do this modeling, and then send the seed to the lab where each kernel is finger printed. Then perhaps I would get back 250 kernels that had the same genetic makeup which best fit my model of the 3,000 kernels I had sent to the lab. “This process greatly increased the possibilities of isolating a specific inbred for potential hybridization and in a quicker time frame as well. That is why today hybrids tend to have a life span of fewer years versus the eight of 10-year life span previously.” Might these new technologies lead to hybrids developed spe- cifically for pharmaceutical values for humans? Boerboom suggests these breeding ambitions are likely to continue. “There will be challenges because of the GMO mindset within the human population,” he says. “But I believe corn hybrids designed to produce medicine for particular human health issues might eventually happen. “Crops developed to produce insulin, for example, might lessen the costs of these medicines and make them more acces- sible to people around the world. Maize continues to be the most amazing crop species developed by man!” Today Boerboom lives in the Alexandria area where fishing lakes are plenty and hunting is good. But he hasn’t entirely hung up his cap. He’s mentoring a new breeder and is considering taking on some genetic improvement work in the Monsanto veg- etable world … tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, etc. Summing up, he simply comments, “I’m missing my work and great colleagues at the Olivia research center, but I’m thoroughly enjoying my retirement,” he says. “Plus I’m doing some volun- teer work, like currently 1.5 days per week at the local food shelf. Also I’m on the Ag Advisory Board for the new Alexandria High School. This is a great area, and life is good." SW “Crops developed to produce insulin, for example, might lessen the costs of these medicines and make them more accessible to people around the world. Maize continues to be the most amazing crop species developed by man!” — Marv Boerboom