How Miniature Crops Could Transform Midwest Farming Amid Climate Challenges

Amid climate challenges, shorter crops that are now being tested could transform Midwest farming and offer farmers variety.

Driving through the Midwest, many are accustomed to walls of corn reaching up to 12 feet, but this traditional sight may soon change as shorter, more resilient corn varieties are emerging as a solution to the growing threats of climate change.

The short corn developed by Bayer Crop Science is being tested on about 30,000 acres in the Midwest. Its compact size is engineered to withstand increasingly powerful windstorms, a phenomenon expected to become more frequent with climate change.

By testing the plants' endurance against winds of up to 50 miles per hour, researchers have developed a variety that is not only resilient but also more productive. The smaller plants also allow farmers to plant more in fields at higher densities, allowing farmers to grow more corn per acre—a critical advantage amid ongoing price pressures and drought concerns.

Farmers like Cameron Sorgenfrey in eastern Iowa have been growing short-statured corn developed by Bayer Crop Science for several years.

"As you drive across the Midwest, maybe in the next seven, eight, 10 years, you're going to see a lot of this out there," Sorgenfrey told the Associated Press. "I think this is going to change agriculture in the Midwest."