b'CornWHEN MOSTpeople picture cornin Ganado, TX, which is a regional com-country, in their minds eye they tendpany that sells traited and non-traited to see endless acres of lush plants undercorn nationwide and also offers non-Movesthe big blue skies of Iowa and Illinois, theGMO corn. They can perform really well Corn Belt as its long been known aroundin the heat, drought and against disease. the world. But fewer can picture what weThis year, Iowa is facing big disease pres-could call the Southern Corn Belt.sures [from northern corn leaf blight, For starters, its not concentrated ingray leaf spot, southern rust and tar spot] one region, but scattered across statesbut we face diseases every year. The South like Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Colorado,hybrids we grow here are strong.New Mexico and California. Its also obvi- The average yield in Texas is now ously not as large as the main Corn Belt,somewhere between 120 and 140 bushels but its tenacious and built on years ofper acre in dryland cultivation, and its success and it may grow substantially inmuch higher than that in Mississippi.the future on both irrigated and dry- We used to lag behind the U.S. aver-land fields. According to the Texas Cornage but the last 10 years, weve exceeded From Texas to Mississippi,Growers, more than two million acres ofit, Mississippi State University extension/corn is finding new ground,corn are grown each year in the state. research professor Erick Larson says. Over the course of my career, weve seen new genetics and newNot Your Grandfathers the state average yield go from 100 bush-limits as southern growersCorn Country els per acre in 2000 to now approach-push yields higher underIn the Corn Belt, the hybrids are race- ing 190 bushels per acre. And on a lot of horses, and here, the hybrids are work- irrigated and dryland fields with good tougher conditions. horses and racehorses at the same time,rainfall, growers commonly reach yields By Treena Hein, says Bart Hajovsky, owner of BH Geneticsthat are over 200. Weve had several Seed World U.S. ContributorA growing corn field in South Georgia, where heat tolerance and disease resistance are critical traits for maintaining yield through pollination and grain fill.36/ SEEDWORLD.COMFEBRUARY 2026'