Publication: Reuters News Service
Date: Tuesday, December 12, 2006

CHICAGO -- Advances in seed breeding could allow U.S. farmers to double corn yields by 2030, reaching a national average yield of 300 bushels per acre, a seed researcher said on Thursday. Average yields in prime Corn Belt states such as Iowa could jump to 350 bushels per acre from 163 in 2006.

The USDA estimated the average U.S. 2006 corn yield at 151.2 bpa. The rise in output should help meet demand from the ethanol sector and may help corn keep its lead as the chief U.S. feedstock for ethanol, over alternatives such as switchgrass.

"It's a theoretical calculation. But if you takes the gains that you could see from those various technologies and you project it out, it projects 300 bushel (per acre) corn," said Ted Crosbie, vice president of global plant breeding for Monsanto Co.

Crosbie said researchers are building upon the first wave of genetically modified corn crops that U.S. farmers began adopting about a decade ago. He believes the advances will result from molecular breeding technology, which speeds the rate at which plant researchers can produce new varieties, and new biotech traits in the corn plants themselves.

"The first generation was insect and weed control. The next generation is about nitrogen use efficiency, water use efficiency, and what we would call intrinsic yield," Crosbie said on the sidelines of the American Seed Trade Association conference.

The grain industry's familiarity with producing, storing and transporting corn gives it an advantage as an ethanol feedstock. Other plants such as switchgrass show promise for biofuels, but have not been widely produced as crops.

"The corn seed is a beautiful factory that you can store for as long as you want, and it's relatively inexpensive to store, unlike these huge volume biomass crops. If you leave them outdoors, they are going to deteriorate," Crosbie said.

The federal Energy Information Administration said U.S. ethanol demand is expected to more than double by 2012 to 11.2 billion gallons a year, exceeding the 7.5 billion gallon requirement under a U.S. energy law.

There are 107 ethanol plants operating in the United States, with 44 under construction.