b'spring. And just in general,ents, Swarm says.more extreme weather eventsIts also important to think that were having to deal with,about how climate affects Swarm says. pests and disease. He cites the drought inWarmer winters may have 2012 with severe conditionsa potential for more overwin-across most of the U.S., buttering pests, Swarm says. also the floods in 2019, whichDiseases also evolve over delayed planting to late May,time as the climate changes.or early June in many parts ofTar spot, for example, is the country.Stephen Swarm serves as aWill Kletter is head of customera new evolving disease that These are very differ- corn breeder at Becks Hybrids. success at ClimateAi. breeders are watching.ent events, but both are veryWe dont know how thats harmful for the overall crop,going to play out economi-Swarm says. You want it to work inMoreover, selecting hybridscally. Is it going to be a big For Kletter, it comes downall different kinds of growingis not solely based off of over- disease that were going to to protecting the future of theconditions, he says. Often,all average yield. have to breed for, or is it going industry in a proactive, notthat means yield protectionIm also looking at con- to fizzle out? We wont know just reactive way. They look atagronomics such as strongsistency for proof of perfor- until in the future, Swarm what is going to happen in theroots and stocks, shorter plantmance. So even though onsays.areas growers are currentlyheight, disease resistance, andaverage, it might win the trial.Swarm says one other producing, but also identifyuniform emergence. If its not consistently in thechange is that farmers are new areas that growers shouldAs breeders, we need totop section of the trials, thenstarting to grow fuller season produce in or sell into in thetarget traits that are importantmaybe that one does nothybrids further north. future.now, but also with changingmove forward, as you wouldAs the growing season Climate change is disrup- climates and how those traitsexpect, he explains.lengthens, these farmers are tive, but it will also create neware going to be more impor- going to take advantage of it, suitable climates for our crops.tant or less important forMore Than Meets the Eye he says. He gave the example And we need to know whatspecific areas, Swarm says. One of the most concerningthat something that may have those are so we can moveFor example, if farmers areaspects of climate change isbeen targeted for Southern ahead and move ahead of ourdealing with heavier storms,that climate change doesntIndiana, could start being competitors, he says. such as in western states,just affect the weather.grown in Central Indiana.theyre probably going to haveKletter explained that when Tests for Success a higher emphasis on reduc- one thing changes, such asGenomic PredictionSwarm likes to think abouting plant height. With heaviermore rainfall in a specific area,Swarm says Becks Hybrids this in terms of yield stabil- rains, strong emergence isthere are trickle-down shiftshas had great success with ity. By definition, for yieldkey. When looking at moreto watch for. genomic prediction in breed-stability, you have to be abledrought conditions, an earlierOur agronomic systeming. With this process, breed-to cope with a wide variety offlowering time could be ais in a very fine balance, heers only test the hybrids that stresses, including drought,higher importance.says. are most likely to succeed, and changes in weather pat- Swarm says he breeds forSo, more extreme rainsbased on predictions, instead terns, Swarm says.this yield stability by testing indont just mean flooding andof wasting resources on His goal is to create work- a range of environments.loss of plots, they also meanhybrids that have no hope of house hybrids, with a punch,My testing zones are notchanges to the soil.succeeding. that produce acceptableonly in high potential, butHeavier rains mean moreWere predicting millions results in high stress, but withwere also looking at mediumnitrogen nutrient loss. Itsof hybrid combinations, and the potential to see high yieldspotential soils and then latebecoming more importantwere only taking the very best when given the opportunity tostage testing in low potentialto side dress and have laterthat has the highest probabil-perform. soils as well, he says.season application of nutri- ity for success and testing that JANUARY 2022SEEDWORLD.COM /53'